


I'll always love you

by swanqueen_vauseman



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Cora being Cora, F/F, Kidnapping, Young Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Young Emma Swan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-09
Updated: 2016-05-05
Packaged: 2018-04-19 22:30:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 31,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4763417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swanqueen_vauseman/pseuds/swanqueen_vauseman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Regina was kidnapped by her own mother at the age of 16 and Emma has searched for her best friend and lover ever since. Will she be able to find her? AU no magic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is my first story published here. It was inspired by a gif set of reginamlls in Tumblr. I really hope you'll like it. 
> 
> All mistakes are mine
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Emma Swan arrived at school early that morning. Not because she actually wanted to be there but because it was the birthday of her best friend and crush, or probably more than that, since 7th grade, Regina Mills. They were now in sophomore year but Emma hadn’t told her anything for fear of losing the one true friendship she had ever had.

 

Emma had never understood how she and Regina could ever be friends; they were completely different from each other. Regina was what could be called the “perfect” students, always straight A’s, the teachers liked her and even with this, she was still one of the popular girls at school. On the contrary, Emma got to Storybrooke High in 7th grade, after Mary Margaret and David Nolan fostered her, and she was known for causing trouble and well, not being the “perfect” student.

 

As a result of this, Emma had never been very fond of making friends, as she found it both difficult and awkward. She had been always a lonely kid, and when she saw Regina Mills in the corridor in her first day of school, she felt as if there was a magnet between her and Regina; of course, she didn’t have high expectations that Regina would notice her, after all she belonged to the popular group and Emma was a complete outsider.

 

So, when one day Regina did approach her, she was completely shocked when the most beautiful girl she had ever seen wanted to talk to her. They talked about a lot of things, about the foster system, about Regina’s sister and so on. Quickly, a true friendship began to develop, and both girls appreciated the fact that they had found someone they could trust, where judgment didn’t exist and with the certainty that no matter what, they would not leave each other’s side.

 

Emma had arranged everything to go perfect that day. She had made a card for Regina, a little present, which she hoped Regina would love and then, after school, they would go anywhere Regina wanted to. Unfortunately for Emma, she couldn’t spend time with the brunette during lunchtime, since that time was reserved to Regina’s circle of friends, or to be completely honest, the popular girls at school. After all, Regina had to maintain certain appearances during school, and though Emma completely understood that the second she became friends with Regina, she couldn’t help the tiny bit of jealousy she felt.

 

She waited for ten more minutes until she saw the black Mercedes Benz that indicated Regina’s arrival. She hold tightly the little bag that contained the two presents and waited for the brunette near the school entry.

 

Finally, when Regina stepped out and approached the blonde girl, Emma grinned at the sight of her best friend and she quickly went to give Regina a tight hug. “Happy birthday Regina” she said while still holding the embrace. They parted and Emma handed out the bag.

 

“What’s this?” Regina said at the same she let out a little laugh.

 

“A present” Emma responded with a clear “duh” tone in her voice

 

Regina then proceeded to open the bag and she carefully took out both items that were inside them. First, she looked at the card and smiled upon seeing that the card had been handmade. Regina could see how much effort the blonde had put into that card, since all the drawings, the little birthday cake, the candle and just everything, were made by Emma. She could see that her name had been written in a beautiful cursive letter; then, she opened that card and couldn’t helped a little gasp when she saw that the word inside were as well written with the cursive letter. Regina nearly went to give a closer inspection of the letter Emma had used because she could have sworn that it could have been printed out and just made it seemed that it was handwritten. Regina had always been aware of Emma’s potential and talent for the arts, but she didn’t know that she could make such beautiful things.

 

_Dear Regina,_

_First of all, happy birthday! I really hope that you are having a really good time and that you like this little card I gave you._

_I also wanted to thank you for being such an amazing friend and for always being there when I’ve needed you._

_May all your wishes come true._

_Thank you for being part of my life,_

_Emma_

She then looked at the second gift; it was a small box, like one of those that have any type of jewelry inside. Regina let out a small gasp when she opened the box, when she saw a necklace with a crown. She pulled the necklace out to give it a closer look at was amazed by the fact that the little crown had incrusted three little diamonds in it.

 

“Emma, this is amazing” Regina finally said with a huge smile on her face.

 

“So, I take it that you liked it?”

 

“Of course, can you help me putting it on?”

 

Emma chuckled, and took the necklace. Regina turned around, holding her hair so it would be easier for Emma to put on the necklace.

 

After that, Regina turned to face Emma. “Thank you” and gave Emma a small kiss on the cheek. Emma couldn’t help the blush in her cheeks after that sweet kiss.

 

“You’re welcome, Regina”

 

The bell for the first period finally rang and both girls made their ways to their own classes. Regina had History while Emma headed down to the English classroom.

 

She was glad that when she arrived, there were already there the other two friends she had, certainly not as deep as with Regina, but friends nonetheless. She seated down in front of Ruby Lucas, who was talking with her girlfriend Belle French, none actually noticed the blonde until she had already seated down.

 

“So, how did it go? Did you finally tell her that you love her?” Ruby asked with a grin on her face. She knew that Emma had been head over heel for Regina Mills since the day they met. So, it was only fair for the brunette to help her friend get with Regina.

 

“No, because we are just friends” Emma said not hiding the disappointment at the mention of the word “friends”.

 

“Emma, seriously, when are you going to tell her? And don’t you dare tell me that you are fine with how you are right now because we both know that it is not true” Ruby asked, almost in a demanding tone.

 

“Probably never, unless I know that she has the same feelings for me and since I don’t know that, I won’t. Besides, Regina would never risk her reputation to be with me” Emma said as she turned around in her seat just at the same time that the teacher walked in.

 

Ruby sighed at this, because she knew that Regina did share the same feeling as Emma. She had heard it herself, but she knew that Emma would only believe that if those words were coming from the Regina.

 

“Don’t worry about her, sooner or later both of them will realize that they love each other” Belle assured her girlfriend in a whisper so Emma couldn’t hear.

 

“I know, but I just wish that it was sooner rather than later.” Ruby whispered back. It had been almost four years and she knew that she would have to wait for them to actually be together. First, because Emma was being a coward for not telling Regina and Regina was being, honestly, an ass for not giving Emma a single clue that she loved Emma back.

 

Both girls had passed that line between liking a person very much and loving them long ago. Everyone with some eyes could see that, except apparently, the two persons involved.

 

In the History classroom, a conversation that resembled this one was as well taking place.

Regina was taking with Kathryn, they had been friend for as long as she can remember and was the one person she could trust besides of Emma.

 

“Who gave you that necklace? Because it is absolutely beautiful!” Kathryn said reaching out for the necklace that was hanging over Regina’s collarbones.

 

Regina laughed at this. “Emma gave it to me”

 

“Did she say why?” Kathryn asked curiously, though she already knew the answer. Had she asked the blonde why she gave a crown to Regina the blonde with have answered without a second guess that it was because Regina was her Queen.

 

“Now that I think about it, no, she didn’t. Though I didn’t ask her either” Regina made a little frown. Had Emma truly meant something with the crown?

 

“So, I can assume that you also didn’t her a clue that you are head over heels for her”

 

Regina blushed at this. Regina knew that she liked Emma and that she would like her to be something more mere weeks after the two girls met. And as unbelievable as it seems, Regina also didn’t have any idea that Emma had also fallen in love with her.

 

“And why would I? It’s not like I’m hoping that if Emma figured that out, she would ask me to be her girlfriend” Regina said, with a certain amount of sadness in her tone.

 

“Seriously Regina, we have been friends long enough that you can trust me when I say that Emma wants just that. How can you not see what is in front of you?” Kathryn said, exasperated since this conversation always took place when something happened between Emma and Regina.

 

“Because there is nothing to see” Regina could feel beginning to be angry, so she just decided that it would be best to ignore this topic with Kathryn, since it only led to both of them being exasperated with each other.

 

“Fine, whatever you say” Kathryn mumbled, raising her hands as a sign of retreating. She was already tired that neither of them could make a step forward.

 

Regina only scoffed and rolled her eyes and she turned around to face the teacher that she hadn’t noticed was already there. It didn’t matter how much effort she put in trying to put attentions at something that had to do with the Cold War, although Regina wasn’t even sure today’s topic had to do with that. The only thing in her mind was Emma and how she would love to tell her what she really felt.

 

Finally, the bell indicating the end of what felt for both girls the longest day in history rang. Emma practically run to the entrance where she had agreed with Regina to meet so they could go to wherever she wanted. Not five minutes had passed when Regina hurried to where Emma was and suddenly she didn’t know what to do, if it was all right to give her a kiss on the check or just wave at her or what. She approached and the only thing that left her mouth was “Hi”

 

“Hey, so where do you wanna go?” Emma asked, as if she was sensing the battle Regina was experiencing inside her head.

 

“Can we go to the docks and just sit there, maybe buy something to eat and talk about life?” Regina asked, suddenly feeling very vulnerable for what Emma’s response could be. Would she consider this as way too romantic?

 

“Yeah sure, whatever you want, it is your day after all” Emma said with a smile that to Regina meant the reassurance that everything was the same, at least for now.

 

“Excellent” Regina said in what was more a whisper, though Emma still caught it and she was not sure if Regina meant excellent because they were going or there something else inside the brunette’s mind.

 

Both of them walked towards Regina’s Mercedes and Emma felt a pinch of guilt for making Regina drive. It’s not that Emma didn’t know how to drive but the yellow bug she used as a means of transportation was getting repaired for something Emma didn’t know what exactly that was.

 

However, that didn’t stop Emma for being the Knight she and Regina joked about, and moved to open Regina’s door; Regina mumbled a quick thank you and then she got into the car and Emma closed the door behind her. She walked towards her side of the car, finally got in and Regina started the engine so they could get to the docks as fast as they could. They didn’t notice the car that was following them.

 

When they arrived at the docks, they quickly went to buy some fish sticks and went to the bench that had become _their_ bench, since it had become tradition that whenever they went to the docks they would always sit in the same bench.

 

Regina was still thinking if there would be a day when she would tell Emma how she felt, and apparently these thoughts were loud enough for Emma to hear them.

 

“Penny for your thoughts?” Emma asked, but didn’t turn to face Regina.

 

“I was just admiring the horizon” Regina lied, trying to make it sound as believable as possible.

 

Emma could catch easily the lie but decided not to push, since she knew that Regina would eventually tell her when she was ready.

 

Neither of the girls noticed that their hands were interlaced, and when they did they decided it was best to ignore, for they knew that if they did, it would lead to some awkward conversation none of them wanted to have. For Emma, it was because she was absolutely terrified of what would happen if she told Regina the truth about the gift and how she felt and for Regina, it was the fear of being rejected.

 

For persons like Ruby and Kathryn it was like living in hell, because thy both knew they couldn’t do anything to help them, since both of the girls were blinded by their own insecurities.

 

“Where do you see yourself in five years?” Regina suddenly asked breaking the comfortable silence they were in.

 

“What? Is it like one of those interview questions were you have to say exactly what they want in order to get the job?” Emma chuckled.

 

“No, I was just being curious” Regina said still not looking at Emma

 

“Well, in five years I would like to be picked up by a hot girl in a hot car and driven off into the sunset”

 

“Really?” Regina asked and you could see that hopeful gleam in her eyes.

 

“Well, the part of the hot girl it is, but I really don’t care if I get picked up in a Mercedes or in a bug or if the girl just knock on my door and we walked” Emma responded glancing back at Regina.

 

“Good to know” Regina whispered, letting her own insecurities resurge inside her. Her mother had always told her how she was never enough and as a consequence she thought that she didn’t fit within the requisites of Emma’s hot girls.

 

Emma didn’t know what to say, and turned her face back to sea. She didn’t know how much time it had passes and as she glanced at her watch in had been already three hours since they arrived. Being with Regina could make that time passes slower and that they had the whole time in the world.

 

“It’s getting late, and I know that your mother doesn’t like you to be late so we should head back.” Emma said, getting up and letting go Regina’s hand.

 

“Yeah, we should” Regina didn’t say anything else for the rest of the way back.

When Regina pulled over in front of the Nolan’s apartment she didn’t step out of the car and simply said “Goodbye Emma, thank you”

“You’re welcome, happy birthday Regina” She said as she got out of the car and turned towards the entrance. She didn’t look back as she would have seen the little tears that had escaped from Regina’s eyes and Regina for one part, was grateful that she didn’t.

She quickly wiped away the tears and headed back home.

She would offer an explanation for her sudden mood change to Emma when she saw the blonde tomorrow at school. Little did she know that that would be the last time she saw Emma.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! New chapter, Hope you'll like. If you want, you can follow me in Tmublr I'm swanqueen-gives-me-life
> 
> All mistakes are mine
> 
> Disclaimer in chapter 1

Regina entered her home as quietly as she could, since she didn’t want her mother asking about why her makeup was not perfect and why she had been crying. Unfortunately, Regina didn’t have such luck.

“Who was she?” A voice asked from the living room scaring the crap out of Regina.

Regina quickly recovered herself as to not give her mother another thing to pick on. “Hello Mother, and who are we talking about?”

“The girl you were with in the docks, and don’t even try to lie me because you know what will happen if you do” Cora said in the same tone of voice she always used with her daughter if she wanted answers. If someone could describe Cora Mills the only two words that would come out of their mouths would be manipulative and cruel.

“She is a friend.” Regina answered and she prayed to every god in heaven that her mother would leave the topic with that answer, although the probabilities of this happening were practically inexistent.

“Oh dear, but I believe that she is more than just a friend to you or am I mistaken?” Cora firmly said, since she already knew the answer to that. She saw in Regina the same loving eyes she had when she had looked at Daniel, before Cora forced him to leave town and into oblivion.

“Yes Mother, she is more than just a friend to me but that is none of your business.” Regina immediately regretted saying this because before she knew what was happening she was pinned up against a wall with a hand at her throat making it for her almost impossible to breath.

“Do not dare to use that tone with me. Or have you not learned the lesson after what happened with Daniel? Love is weakness Regina, and if I can’t make you understand that, I will find a way to make sure that Emma will. Don’t you want to succeed in life? Don’t you want to be enough? Are you really that blinded with love that you can’t see that staying with Emma will only bring misery into your life?” Cora said finally letting go off Regina, making the girl fall.

Regina coughed and took a deep breath after her mother loosed her grip, one that would certainly leave marks in her neck. She could already feel the tears in her eyes and forced herself to blink in order to avoid those same tears to fall.

“Do whatever you want with me Mother, but do not harm Emma” Regina pleaded.

“Maybe one day, but certainly not today. Now, go grab a glass of water and then go to your room, we will talk about this later” Cora stated and it was the cue for Regina to leave.

It was an understatement if you said that Regina was confused by what had just happened. First, her mother is practically threatening her to harm Emma in god knows what ways and then, she appears to be merciful. She grabbed the glass of water that was already on top of the kitchen table and drank the water in it. She frowned at the taste of the water but she just assumed that it was an effect of being practically asphyxiated.

Regina then went up to her room and grabbed her phone to text Emma.

Thank you for an amazing birthday :)

You’re welcome Regina Emma answered almost immediately

See you tomorrow, goodnight Emma

Goodnight Regina :) 

Regina gave one final smile at her phone knowing that Emma wasn’t angry with her, before everything went black.

Emma put her phone down, knowing that things were still the same with Regina and she wasn’t at any risk of telling Regina the truth.

She laid down in bed and smiled as she started to go into the stream of unconsciousness and she knew that tonight she would dream about what would happen is she and Regina were together.

 

Next morning she arrived at school at the usual hour, fifteen minutes before classes started, so she could talk with Regina. However, she never saw the black Mercedes and figured out that Regina must have overslept. It was very uncommon for Regina to arrive late at school, but didn’t put much effort to think past that and headed down to her classroom.

She didn’t have any class with Regina rather than Math, so she would wait for that class to ask the brunette what had happened.

Emma decided that she would focus on being with her friends instead of thinking about Regina, since that would only make the blonde even more worried than she was now. When she went to Math, she noticed that the brunette was nowhere to be seen. She checked her cellphone in case that Regina had texted her that she was sick or something; but there were no new messages and that only made the already worried Emma to worry even more.

Finally, the day was over and Emma was able to head back home, not even offering Ruby and Belle an explanation for her sudden leave. When she arrived at the Nolan’s department, Mary Margaret was seating in the living room.

“Emma” Mary Margaret said once she noticed that the blonde was back home.

“Hi Mary Margaret” Emma responded, she was still not used to call the woman “mom” even though she had lived with the Nolan’s for three years.

“There is something I need to tell you” Mary Margaret said in the most uncertain tone of voice Emma had ever heard. The woman, normally sweet and full of joy, now had a face of fear and sadness, though Emma didn’t knew which of those two emotions was the strongest. Instantly, Emma knew something had happened. Something bad.

“What is it?” Emma asked.

“Today in the morning, after you left for school, a woman came and told me to give you a letter” Mary Margaret briefly stopped to point at the table where the letter was. On top of the envelope there were two letters ‘”CM” And it that moment Emma knew what was this about. “She told me to tell that she is gone and I honestly don’t know what happened but Emma-“ Mary Margaret stopped abruptly and the view in front of her.

Emma was already crying, she hadn’t seen Emma cry in all the three years she had lived with them and she knew that the girl liked to keep her feelings at bay. Looking at this, it made Mary Margaret’s heart clenched and got up from the couch to try to comfort Emma but the blonde took a step back.

“Don’t. She can’t be gone” Emma whispered, she grabbed the letter and stormed off to her room.

Emma didn’t have to ask who was the “she” Mary Margaret was referring to and the two letters at the end only confirmed her suspicions. Cora Mills.

She opened the letter, she wasn’t at all shocked with the content of the letter but she was surprised that Cora had ability to go through her insecurities and break her. She was as well surprised with the fact the Cora knew about she and Regina, even though they weren’t a couple. 

Emma,

You must know by now who I am, in case your foolish brain can’t figure that out I am going to present myself. My name is Cora Mills; I am the owner of Mills Enterprises and the mother of Regina Mills. You must understand why I am doing this, although I am certain you won’t and will attempt everything to get back to Regina. I know that both of you are in, what you call, love; I am grateful that neither of you had the courage to tell the other since that would have only made more difficult what I must do to ensure that Regina becomes a successful woman.   
Love is weakness, and Regina being with you would have only put in damage her possible future at my company and at her life. I am protecting Regina from you, therefore I must make sure that you won’t see Regina again.  
If you are trying to find the guilty one here, I suggest dear that you look in the mirror. You are the cause that I had to take such desperate measures.

With nothing more to say,

CM.

Emma hadn’t stopped crying since she started reading the letter, and now she felt like it was impossible to stop crying and to continue with her life. She couldn’t see a life where Regina wasn’t there and in that moment she was determined to find Regina, it didn’t matter how long it would take, where she would have to go or anything else, her sole purpose was to find Regina and tell her that she loved. She only hoped that when she found her, it wasn’t too late.

After what felt an eternity, she heard someone knocking on her door. She got up and went to open the door. She was surprised that it wasn’t Mary Margaret behind the door, but David. Mary Margaret must have called him after seeing the state in which Emma ran up to her room. She left the door open and then she laid down in her bed once again.

“Is it okay if we talk?” David cautiously asked.

Emma just shrugged.

“I understand that it must be difficult to loose your best friend just like that, but Emma you have to move one. She is gone.” David said. Emma didn’t know how David knew over who all this crying was about, but she felt relieved that she needn’t to explain to him that.

“Don’t” Emma got up and looked at David with fierce eyes.

“But Emma-“

“No, I refuse to believe that yesterday would be the last time I saw her. I will find her.” Emma firmly stated that. She would not give up on Regina.

“Emma, there is nothing you can do” David tried to reason with her; though he knew hat it would be practically impossible.

“No, David. I will find her” Emma then lowered her voice, “I didn’t even tell her that I love her” And then, she couldn’t stop once again the tears coming from her eyes.

“Oh Emma” David said and then move to give Emma a hug, one she desperately needed.

At that point, Emma didn’t care about anything in the world, the only thing she cared and needed in that moment was Regina.

David only waited until Emma calmed herself and exited the room, leaving Emma alone with her thoughts.

“I will find you Regina, and I’ll always love you” Emma said in a whisper, wishing that wherever Regina was, she could hear as in those fairytales where the two people with True Love will always find each other.

Emma didn’t know how much time had passed, but she finally fell asleep, still with fresh tears in her cheeks and with the memories of everything she had lived with Regina in her mind.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! Thank you for the response. If you want, you can follow me in Tumblr swanqueen-gives-me-life
> 
> All mistakes are mine
> 
> Disclaimer in chapter 1

As Regina woke up from unconsciousness, she realized that all her body was in pain, as if someone had hit all over again and again but she quickly discovered that the pain was merely from the uncomfortable position in which she woke up.

She went to grab her cellphone that would normally be in the little table next to her bed and frowned upon the realization that there was no cellphone at all. It must have fallen when I fell asleep Regina thought. Confused by this, she got up from bed, and walked over where the window should be to open the curtains only to discover that there was no window, only a wall.

This new and unsettling discover, made Regina widened her eyes in realization that the space where she was, although very similar to her room was not her room.

Everything was the same except for the fact that were there should be a door, there wasn’t one and that instead she found herself surrounded by four walls.

“Where am I?” Regina muttered to herself, panic starting to settle inside her. This could mean nothing good.

She started pacing around the room when someone opened a door in the wall, where the original door would have been. She was shocked when she discovered that the person behind the door was her own mother.

“Good morning dear” Cora said, still not moving from the door.

“Mother, where am I?” Regina asked.

“That certainly is not nothing for you to worry about, since the only thing you’ll worry about from now on is being the perfect daughter you should have been since the beginning” Cora firmly stated.

Regina instantly knew that all of this was because of what her mother had seen the previous in the docks and what she knew about her and Emma.

“What have you done to Emma? Because I swear that if I come to know that you harmed her in any way-“ Regina started to said with a courage she never knew she had.

“Oh dear, I didn’t harm her in any way” Cora interrupted “I just merely pushed her to the conclusion that she was no good for you and that she was the cause that I had to take such desperate measures” Cora added in a tone that made Regina feel a chill on her back.

“What ‘desperate measures’ are you referring to Mother?” Regina asked, although she knew that whatever her mother had done, she would not be able to do anything about it.

“Well, as you might have already discovered, we are not in your room. I have brought you here so you can only focus on what you should have focused since the very beginning: being the successful woman you were born to be. And, in order to achieve just that, there couldn’t be any distractions that could draw you away from that goal, and well one of those distraction and clearly the most important one was that foolish girl.” Cora said.

Regina quickly draw her conclusions. “Are you saying that you kidnapped you own daughter, because you couldn’t afford with me being happy with Emma?” Regina finally asked, tears stinging behind her eyes, and she had to put all her effort in not letting them fall.

Regina then felt a burning sensation in her cheek. She took her hand to her cheek after being slapped by her mother with such force that would definitely make her cheek hurt for at least two days.

“Love is weakness Regina. If you didn’t learn the lesson with Daniel you will surely learn it now” Cora stated before she made her way towards the door. “And don’t even attempt to escape, as you can see, this door can only be opened from the outside and in the case you somehow managed to get out of this room, don’t doubt that I will know, and the consequences of this insubordination might be, well lets say not quite pleasant” Cora finally added before exiting the room and closing the door behind her.  
Regina finally let her tears fall, and she dropped herself on top of the bed, regretting every single opportunity she had of telling Emma what she really felt for her and to say the five words she now could never say I love you Emma Swan. 

“I’ll always love you Emma, no matter what” she said in a whisper, not knowing that almost those same words were being said by Emma herself at the exact same moment. It was like the two souls were connected, no time passing or space would ever change that.

Without really noticing it, Regina fell asleep and she only woke up when her mother opened again the door with a tray of food.

“Regina, here is some food” Cora said while leaving the tray on top of the desk at the other side of the room. She then noticed the puffy red eyes her daughter had.

“What have I told you about crying? You must not display any weakness to other, and certainly not to me.” Cora stated.

“I am sorry Mother, it won’t happen again” Regina finally said in what was little more than a whisper. She was exhausted after all she had learned in the past few hour, and she was in no mood to engage in a fight with her mother.

“I do hope so dear. While you are here, you will be working as an intern in my company. Although you may never leave your room, I’ll have to bring a computer so you can do the work but let me be very clear about this” Cora approached Regina until she was merely inches away from her. “If you try anything to contact Emma, you might not be the only one that will suffer.” And with that, Cora exited the room leaving Regina once again all alone.

“I’ll will find a way to get back to you” Regina said in a whisper, more to herself than anything. It was an attempt to reassure herself that she would not let this whole situation break her. “That, I promise”.

Regina didn’t touch the food, in an act of rebellion against her mother, though she knew she couldn’t keep that stunt for too long.

Finally, she fell asleep but the gears inside her mind were still running trying to figure out a way to escape.

 

The next morning, Emma woke up feeling emptier than she had ever felt. Even when she was in some foster homes were the foster parents would sometimes forget to buy food or they got home drunk and tried to do unspeakable things to the girls living there, Emma never had anything or anyone that could make her feel complete even if it was just with their presence as she had felt with Regina.

Knowing that she would not be seeing her and that in that moment she couldn’t do anything about it, she felt like she didn’t have a purpose in life anymore. If she disappeared in that same instant, nothing would change and she would be forgotten into oblivion.

But another part of her, the most logical one in this instant, had the hope that she would see Regina again. It was that, that gave her the motivation to go on with her life.

She got up from her bed, took a shower and put some clothes and went to the dining room were Mary Margaret and David were already waiting for Emma to have breakfast. She didn’t have much appetite after the events the previous day. She sat down but she had no intent of eating.

“Aren’t you going to eat something Emma?” David asked not looking up from the newspaper he was reading.

“I’m not very hungry. I’m going to school.” Emma said getting up from the table.

“But it’s not even 6:30 yet” Mary Margaret said looking at her watch.

“I know, but I still have some homework to do before class” Emma answered and without looking back at the expressions of her foster parents, or by this point her parents, she exited the apartment and made her way to school. 

She hadn’t had the energy to tell them the real reason why she wanted to leave earlier. She wanted to be alone and start making a plan of how she would find Regina and she didn’t want to hear all the objections her parents would put.

She arrived at the school and seated in the steps that lead to the main entrance. She waited there until it was ten minutes before classes started, and before anyone would ask her anything, since the courtyard was already starting to get crowded, she got up and went straight to her first class.

She waited there, with her hands over her face in an attempt to avoid anyone looking at her puffy eyes after a whole night crying. She was so out of focus that she didn’t notice when the bell rang and when Ruby and Bell sat nest to her.

“Emma, what’s wrong?” Ruby asked, putting a hand over the shoulder of her friend as a sign that she could tell her everything. Though, knowing how stubborn Emma was, she wouldn’t say until she was ready.

“Nothing” Emma said finally glancing up. Both, Ruby and Bell, could see the red and swollen eyes and they knew something had happened. And the only thing that had enough power to put their friend in such a state was Regina.

“Emma, did something happen with Regina?” Belle cautiously asked, knowing that this could easily go the wrong way.

“No… Yes… I don’t know” Emma stuttered.

When they were going to ask what had happened, the teacher arrived and Emma use this as a distraction to avoid any further question. This was going to be one hell of a day.

They didn’t have any other opportunity what exactly had happened that made the blonde girl be in such a mess. She hadn’t talked in all day, she barely ate at lunch and they were practically sure that Emma was so zoned out that she hadn’t put attention in any class of that.

Finally, when school was over, they approached Emma and vowed to themselves that they would get answers, one or another.

“What happened with Regina?” Ruby asked in a firm tone. Emma could easily note that they would not let her get off the hook until she answered with the truth.

“Between us, nothing” Emma answered it wasn’t exactly a lie. Nothing had happened between them, everything had stayed the same.

“Then why were your eyes all red and puffy this morning?” Ruby asked in an impatient tone. She wasn’t exactly known as a very patient person.

“I don’t know what you are talking about” Emma said in an attempt to avoid where this conversation had heading.

“Bullshit Emma, you exactly what I am talking about.” Ruby put an extra effort in this sentence so Emma could catch that she did not believe a word she was saying.

“Ruby…” Belle whispered to her, she knew that if the began this tête-à-tête, nothing good would come out.

“No” Ruby told her girlfriend. “Did she hurt you? Because if she did, I swear I’m going to kill that bitch the next time I see her”

“No, she didn’t hurt me” Emma whispered, she was already feeling the anger growing inside her. She didn’t like to feel vulnerable and right now, she wasn’t in the mood to have a heart-to-heart conversation.

“Then what did she do? Because you wouldn’t have avoided us if everything was fine. So Emma, I will ask one more time. What. Happened. With. Regina?” Ruby said enunciating the last question.

“SHE’S GONE” Emma screamed, not being able to control her feeling anymore. She then lowered her voice. “She’s gone, and I don’t know where she is because her stupid ass mother decided that taking control of her life was the best option for Regina, so I’m practically sure she did this without her consent but I don’t know where she is or if she is fine or what!” Emma finished her ramble, and let the few tear that were already threatening to fall, to fall.

“Oh Emma, there is nothing you can do” Ruby finally said, her temper had gone down as well after what she had heard.

“Why does everyone keep telling me that?” Emma desperately asked.

“Because there is nothing you can. You can’t go all by yourself against her mother. If she did that to her own daughter, imagine what she will do to you.” Ruby tried reasoning with her, though it was vain.

“I’m sure what her mother did was at least twelve types of illegal things someone could commit, I cannot sit here with my arms crossed waiting for some kind of miracle.” 

“Emma, you seriously got to be kidding. Imagine the kind of influence that woman must have in order for no one else in town know that Regina is missing. Or maybe they do, but they are scared to what would happen if they speak” Ruby said.

“I’ll will find her, no matter what, I will find her at all costs. And if no one is going to help and I’ll have to do this on my own, then so be it” Emma said that and Ruby and Belle knew this was not open for discussion.

Before they could say anything else, Emma was already turning on her heels and walking away from them.

She would stop at nothing to find Regina. She had made several promises through her life and very few of them she had kept, but this one, the one promise that really mattered to her, she didn’t intend to break it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! Here's a new chapter, I'm sorry I ddin't update sooner, everything in mi life was a bit chaotic. I hope you'll like it.
> 
> All mistakes are mine.
> 
> Disclaimer in chapter 1

Regina was really suffering from all this isolation. And it had been merely just two weeks since the last time she saw Emma but to her, it felt like an eternity. She wasn’t not only allowed to try to contact Emma and tell her that whatever her mother had said was not true but she wasn’t allowed to socialize, not in the real world and certainly not in the virtual one.

She didn’t remember when was the last time she hadn’t talked to Emma in such a long time. She missed her best friend, not only her presence but also the endless talks about anything and the feeling of being safe with someone.

In the little time she was allowed to use the computer with Internet, since her mother had restrained the use of Internet to two hours like she was a five-year-old kid, she had tried over and over again to hack the system in order to gain complete access to Internet. Well, at least the computer programing classes had some use after all Regina thought.

She hadn’t been lucky so far to know which password her mother would use. And even if she got it right, she was still afraid that her mother would somehow know that she had figured out a way to have a contact with the real world.

The brunette was beginning on the verge of tears of despair, so she started playing with the necklace Emma had gave her. She was lucky that her mother didn’t take that away, since it was the only thing that she owned that Emma had gave her. She didn’t have all the pictures with her or any other gifts the blonde had give in the last three years.

Playing with the necklace was the only thing that made Regina felt safe and in a way connected to her best friend. She only hoped that Emma still felt connected to her.

Even though the blonde has assured over and over again that not matter what, she would always be there for as long Regina wanted, she couldn’t avoid the feeling that she wasn’t enough, not even as a best friend and certainly not as potential girlfriend, and that in the two weeks that had passed Emma had realized that and had forgot her.

Regina still was trying to figure out the password, but finally she got it right.

Immediately, she logged in Facebook but before she could send a message to Emma, the connection was lost and now there was no way she could regain access.

“What happened?” Regina asked herself, while still trying to regain the connection with the same password. She didn’t notice that someone had entered the room.

“And what exactly do you think are doing?” Cora asked standing behind her daughter.

Regina jumped out and turned around when she heard that voice. She immediately started to kick herself for allowing her hopes to get up and that she would be able to talk to Emma.

“Nothing Mother” Regina replied making her best effort not to show any emotion of her face.

She then felt the moment when Cora slapped her with all her force. “Don’t even try to lie to me, dear. Were you trying to contact Emma?” Cora asked in a more serious tone.

“N-No” Regina stuttered. She was trying her best to not let Cora find out what she was had been about to do. She knew that if Cora did find out, she would not only hurt her but she would also hurt Emma and that was something she didn’t intend to allow.

“Are you really trying to protect that foolish girl? Love is weakness Regina, and I will tell you that until you have learned it” Cora stated, slapped Regina once more, but this time the force send her down to the floor.

“Now, if you excuse me, I need to see someone so you can learn the lesson I’ve been trying to teach ever since that stupid boy” And with that, Cora left the room and slammed the door behind her.

Regina let out the tears she didn’t knew she was trying to hold back the moment she knew that the “someone” her mother referred to was none other than Emma.

“I’m so sorry, Emma” Regina whispered between her sobs. Knowing that she could do nothing to help Emma escape her mother’s wrath.

 

Emma arrived at the house after she got out from school. She quickly went to her computer to see if she could finally get a location on where Regina was. She had accessed the IP of her laptop and now she knew she was somewhere in New York, though she still wasn’t sure because that could be as well a way of Cora misleading her.

She then heard a knock on the door. Mary Margaret and David were not at home, since Mary Margaret had a parent’s reunion at the school and David has taken an extra shift in the Sheriff station.

Emma went to open the door, and there was some man that she definitely didn’t trust. She didn’t open completely the door in case something might happen.

“Can I help you sir?” She asked, and something in her gut told her that this would not end well.

The man didn’t answer, he only grabbed Emma’s arms with all his force and put a hand against her mouth and started to drag her outside while Emma fought with all she had. But the man was twice her weight and she didn’t stand a chance against him.

He dragged her to an alley around the corner. When they got there, Emma saw a woman, and though she didn’t know whom she was, she was almost one hundred percent sure that was the infamous Cora Mills.

The man made her stand in front of her and let go the hand against her mouth but he still grabbed her arms on her back.

“Well, look who we got here” Cora said in a playful but scary tone.

“What do you want?” Emma asked, while still fighting the man to try to liberate herself. 

“I just want to show my daughter a lesson” Cora replied, she looked at the man and gave a little nod.

The next thing Emma felt was a knee in her abdomen, she put all her forces not to fall down but the hit had been really hard. Then she felt the man kicking her once more, and then again. She was on the verge of tears, but she wouldn’t give that satisfaction to Cora.

With one more kick, the man finally stopped. “I should have known from the very beginning that you would be a problem to me. This was a punishment to Regina, but don’t doubt that I didn’t know about your silly attempts to try to track down Regina. I hope that you have as well learned that love is weakness and refrain yourself from continuing this little quest of yours to find my daughter. Know this Miss Swan, you will never find her.” Cora said. Finally, she and the man walked towards a black car and drove away, leaving Emma in the alley.

She stayed down there for another minutes until she was confident that when she got up, the pain wouldn’t make her want to drop against the floor. She was getting up when she heard a familiar voice.

“Emma?” Emma looked up and saw Ruby standing in the entrance of the alley. She had worried all written over her face.

Ruby then walked over to Emma. “Emma? What happened?” Ruby desperately asked while helping Emma to get up.

“Cora happened” Emma replied, hunching over to her still-in pain abdomen.

Ruby just looked at her with eyes that clearly said, “I told you so”

“Don’t, don’t give that look” Emma said.

“Emma-“ Ruby pleaded, knowing that this search for Regina would only cause more pain to Emma.

“No, I will not give up on Regina” Emma hurriedly responded, while finally walking away from Ruby to her house.

“Don’t you need some help?” Ruby took a step closer but Emma raised her hand to stop her. She wasn’t in a mood to argue with Ruby.

“No, I’m fine” Emma said and Ruby just sighed.

Emma would not give up on Regina, now that she knew how Cora could be and scared to death of what she would do to her. Right now, it didn’t matter if she had to stand up for another beat up if that meant that she would find Regina.

The blonde had to find a way in which Cora wouldn’t know that she was looking for her.

 

Regina heard the room of her room/prison open and she saw standing there her mother. There were marks of the tears on her cheeks and knew that Cora would punish her somehow but right now, the only thing she cared was to know that Emma was fine.

“What did you do to Emma, Mother?” Regina asked.

“Don’t worry about her Regina, I only taught her a lesson on how it is a very bad idea to try track you down” Cora replied.

Regina let out a small gap. Was Emma really trying to find her?

Cora could see in her full of hope daughter’s eyes that she still loved Emma with all her heart.

“Oh dear, don’t get too excited about that. I’m sure that with our little…talk this afternoon Emma will stop looking for you. And you should do that as well, because now you know that if you attempt anything else of that sort, Emma will suffer the consequences” Cora said and then closed the door, not hearing Regina’s pleading to stop this nonsense of the kidnapping of her own daughter.

Regina now could only hope that there would be a time when she could escape of her mother’s leash, and she prayed with all her heart that this would come sooner than later.

 

2 years later

Finally the day had come for Emma to be completely free. She was now 18 years old, she was no longer in the foster system though she still lived with the Nolan’s and she was now graduating from high school.

The last two years had been a complete burden on Emma. First, because she hadn’t had her best friend besides her, she had been exhausted from all the applications to college and trying to get a scholarship and on top of all, her continuous search fro said best friend.

It had been almost three years since she had last seen Regina Mills, and since then she had been looking for her as well as she could. Nothing had come up when she searched about her mother more than she was a successful businesswoman and that she lived in New York, and the one time Emma was able to track down Regina, she had got beaten up by one of Cora’s men, Cora witnessing all.

She was hoping that going to NYU would be a step closer to finding Regina, though she knew that there was no guarantee that during the last two years, Cora hadn’t forced Regina to move somewhere else.  
Emma was now packing the few belonging she had, because tomorrow she would head down to New York. Though she had dreamed about living on her own every day since she was in foster care, she had formed a very close relationship to the Nolan’s; so, she had promised that she would visit frequently and would call every now and then, knowing that Mary Margaret would freak out if she didn’t know if Emma was fine.

“How are you doing here?” Emma heard David asked her.

“Fine, I’m almost finished” Emma replied.

“Very good” David said, still not leaving her room.

Emma noticed that. “So, is there something you came for?”

“No, I jus wanted to tell that don’t forget to call us, because I can only deal with Mary Margaret for so long before she puts a missing person demand” David chuckled.

Emma let out a little laugh. “Yeah, I promise I’ll call every now and then”. Emma couldn’t help to think that she should be going to college with Regina by her side, and quickly wiped out a tear that she hadn’t noticed had fallen.

“How are you really doing Em?” David asked in a more serious tone, noticing the tear on Emma’s face.

Emma knew exactly what he was asking. “Fine, I just miss her so much” Emma replied, fighting the tears back.

David then gave her a hug. He was the only person that even though he was almost sure that the two girls would never see each other again, hadn’t discouraged Emma from her search. He knew that this was the only way in which the blonde felt somehow connected to the brunette.

“I’ll go put this in the car” David said, knowing that Emma wouldn’t like to talk much after this. 

Emma only nodded.

“Dinner’s ready!” Mary Margaret yelled form the kitchen.

“I’m not hungry, I’ll go to sleep now” Emma yelled back. The only thing she wanted right now was to lay in bed, and hoped that she would find Regina in New York.

Thankfully, Mary Margaret knew better than to push Emma. “I’ll leave it here in case you get hungry later”.

Emma didn’t respond. 

She just went straight to bed, thinking once more about her brunette friend.

“I will find you Regina, and know that I’ll always love you” Emma whispered to herself before she streamed away into the world of unconsciousness. This had become her personal mantra, as well as the promise to not give up on her best friend. She would find a way to see Regina again, even if it was years before she would see her again.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! Thank you so much for the response and I'll hope you'll enjoy this chapter. If you want to follow me on Tumblr I'm swanqueen-gives-me-life
> 
> All mistakes are mine.
> 
> Disclaimer in chapter 1

Emma arrived early at her dorm, her roommate hadn’t arrived yet since classes wouldn’t start until next week, but she wanted to know the campus and live a little before all the stress of homework, projects and everything else she didn’t want to start thinking of.

She had quickly settled in, since she hadn’t brought many belongings; anyways, even if she had wanted, she wouldn’t had been able to do so, because she didn’t have much, even after living with the Nolan’s for a little more than four years. Besides, having been raised within the foster system had taught her never to get attached to too many things, especially if you couldn’t carry them to the next home or if you couldn’t hide it inside your backpack while you were living in a little hideout under a bridge.

The blonde had chosen Social Work as her major, because if she could help any kid that was living a similar experience to hers, he would do everything in her power to help them. She also would take a computer-programming course for one semester; she hoped that this course would help her find an easier way to get to Regina without Cora prying on. She also hoped she could minor in History; “learn from the past, it’s the best way to explain the present and a way to have a better future”, one of her high school teachers had told her that after knowing of the difficult childhood she had had, she only hoped that this could be applied to more than one aspects of her life.

After settling in, she went to discover Greenwich Village and maybe even find a part-time job, so she could have a little extra income; she didn’t want to be a burden to the Nolan’s who were already paying her tuition, and relying on someone wasn’t really one thing she like to do.

She was walking absentmindedly, when she suddenly saw a woman pass past her. Emma turned her head around just in time to see black short locks of hair. Regina. Emma immediately thought but then she put a little more attention to the features of the unknown woman to only discover that she wasn’t Regina.

Emma had her hopes crashed into a million a pieces and she sighed in disappointment. How could she had been such a fool that she would find Regina walking down the street as if nothing had happened? She couldn’t wait until the day where she would see into that profound chocolate gaze that belonged to her best friend.

She quickly gathered herself, knowing that getting her hopes up would led her to nowhere and would make everything even more hard for Emma to move on than it already was.

She didn’t plan to have all those emotions in less than five minutes, and now the only thing in her mind was a drink. Fortunately for her, she had acquired a false ID back in Storybrooke, obviously without the knowledge of Mary Margaret and David. There was no way she would make it through four years of college without some alcohol in her system.

She walked towards a bar she had just passes by. Emma entered in the Rabbit Hole and sat in one of the stools. A minute after the bartender came.

“What can I do for you?” he asked.

“A scotch, please” Emma answered dryly.

The bartender gave a small nod and went to fetch the drink.

While waiting for her drink, Emma noticed that someone had sited next to her, and for what she could from the corner of her eye, it was woman, though she didn’t look up to see who the stranger was; her mind was filled up of all the memories of Regina.

The bartender came with Emma’s drink, and she nearly drank it like if it was a shot. Then, the bartender asked the stranger what he would get her.

“A margarita” the woman said “and you can put in my tab the drink of this beautiful woman” the woman said, clearly in a flirty tone.

Emma almost choked herself after hearing this and only then she dared looked to who was this woman. Immediately, Emma could tell that the blonde woman sitting next to her was quite beautiful, she had this long hair and blue eyes, that were a combination of sweetness but also there was some sort of strength in her gaze.

Though nothing compared to Regina. Emma thought.

“Thank you for that but you didn’t have to do it” Emma said to the blonde once she regained her breath.

“What’s done is done.” The woman said while giving Emma a little wink and Emma couldn’t help the little blush that crept through her cheek. “I’m Elsa by the way” the blonde added.

“I’m Emma, nice to meet you” Emma replied, not so sure yet if was indeed a pleasure to meet this woman.

“A pleasure indeed. So, what are you doing all by yourself here?” Elsa asked.

“Well, I’m here to study” Emma answered.

“Nothing more?” Elsa asked, leaning a little bit over the counter; Emma immediately read between the lines. Even if she hadn’t had the time to flirt with Regina and that the brunette didn’t know about her feelings, she was not about to betray her.

“Sorry, but I’m taken.” Emma replied. Though it was not the complete truth she would wait until she knew what Regina had to say, and only if it was unrequited love, only then she would allow herself to move one. Besides, she still didn’t trust the blonde to tell her all of her life.

“Oh, don’t tell me that love” Elsa responded, giving a defeated sigh. “Well, they must be very lucky to be with you by their side”

“Yeah” Emma said, giving a sad smile.

Elsa was immediately interested in the story behind Emma, though she didn’t want to be prying over something that wasn’t her business. Maybe, she could be a friend for the blonde.

“But surely there must be a spot for a friend?” Elsa asked, hope in her eyes.

“That there is.” Emma said, while both women shocked their glasses.

“So, if you have that special someone why aren’t they here?” Elsa asked, once realization came over. Emma looked so full of love, yet, she wasn’t with anyone and she has completely sure that there hadn’t been a fight or whatever between them and now they were on the edge of a breakup, ‘cause otherwise the blonde would have been by now completely drunk.

Emma stiffened. “Umm… It’s complicated. We… she… us… I haven’t seen her for two years” Emma muttered, suddenly feeling very vulnerable and was now looking at her glass that became extremely interesting.

“How is that possible?” Elsa asked. She then saw the hurt face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to pry on anything too personal.”

“No, it’s okay” Emma gave Elsa a small sad smile before giving a sigh and continuing talking. “Let’s just say that her mother is a piece of work.”

“Right.” Elsa gave a quick nod, knowing better than push the subject. “What’s her name?” Elsa asked, trying to stay away from too emotional topics.

“Her name is Regina.” Emma said, and couldn’t help the smile that was drawn in her face. 

“So, do you know where she is?” Elsa asked.

“That’s the problem. Not only we haven’t seen each other in two years but her mother apparently cut every type of communication Regina had with the real world.”   
“You know? I have a friend that works a bounty hunter. She owes me a favor and I’m sure after you explain your situation to her she would be more than happy to help to find Regina” Elsa suggested.

“But isn’t a bounty hunter responsible to hunt people that have committed a crime? I want to find Regina, not her mother” Emma scoffed. She was sure as hell that she didn’t want another encounter with Cora.

“Well, yes but that doesn’t mean that she can’t have access to all that data and help you track down your girl” Ella said.

“Are you hundred percent that she is trustworthy?” Emma asked. She didn’t want to put Regina in any trouble at all, nor did she want for Cora to find out about this little plan of hers.

“Yup.” Elsa said, grinning. “She is one of my closest friends. Her name is Mulan and though she seems she is a bitch, she isn’t really. She just has trouble opening herself up to other people” 

“Yeah, I know the feeling” Emma said, looking down at the counter.

“I’m sure you won’t have to know that feeling for much longer. When you find Regina, you’ll see that, is she is the one, you won’t keep anything from her and you will always know that she will be there for you.” Elsa said, while giving a encouraging smile.

Emma smiled back. It indeed felt good to have another person to talk to. The blonde was still friend with Ruby and Belle, but after their little show of support, Emma didn’t know if they would be a day if she would forgive them.

Especially Ruby, since she was the one that encouraged Emma to tell Regina about her feelings and then suddenly, she asks her to stop going after her. True, Emma’s safety had been compromised the day of the beating, but she wouldn’t give up.

Emma had asked her what would she do if she were in her position. Would she give up on Belle? Ruby has hesitated a moment, before finally answering that she would do the same. After that, both brunettes had maintained a civil relationship, but there were still some hard feeling between them.

“So, here’s her number” Elsa said while handing Emma a business card, pulling Emma out of her train of thoughts and memories. “And also, here’s my number, so whenever you want to someone talk or just hang out or something, give me a call” Elsa gave her a small, sweet smile.

“Thank you, Elsa”

Emma got herself up from her stool, and started walking towards the dorms. While classes hadn’t started yet, and not even half the student population was on campus, apparently the one that were already there still had curfew and Emma didn’t want to start this new chapter of her life with the wrong foot.

Quickly, the blonde changed into her pajamas and laid down on her bed. She wasn’t tired nor sleepy and so, she stared at the ceiling waiting for the moment she would fall asleep. What would she give to have Regina cuddling with her? 

Slowly, she started drifting to sleep but not before she thought of the same six words that had became her mantra. 

I’ll always love you Regina.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! Thank you so much for the response. If you want to see how much of Swan Queen trash I am, you can follow me on Tumblr as swanqueen-gives-me-life.
> 
> All mistakes are mine.
> 
> Disclaimer in chapter 1.

Emma walked into the office just before nine o’clock. She had called Mulan the day after she met Elsa and asked her if she could her with something; Mulan told her accepted, but they should go over the details in person, so they just scheduled a meeting two weeks after, partly because apparently Mulan’s schedule was the busiest one and partly because Emma had just started college and she certainly didn’t want it to start with the wrong foot.

She went over to the secretary desk that was at the entrance.

“Hi, so I was looking for Mulan…” Emma looks over at the business card Elsa had given her “Fa.”

“What’s your name?” The secretary, apparently named Aurora for what the plaque on the desk said. She looked like a nice girl, but she was looking at Emma in a very weird way. Emma did not want to assume anything, but judging by her tone and her looks, Emma would have said that she was jealous. Of whom or what, Emma didn’t know but she had a wild guess that the “who” was her.

“Emma Swan.” 

“Ok, just one moment.” Aurora said, before going somewhere inside the office and talking with someone over the telephone.

“So, Mulan is ready for you” 

“Umm, okay. Thank you”

Emma moves pass Aurora’s desk and straight into Mulan’s office. The door was made of glass, so Emma could see Mulan inside; she was a young woman, with Asian features and a very beautiful brown hair. Still, she knocked three times before Mulan lifted her head and gave her a small nod allowing Emma to enter.

“Umm, hi. My name is Emma Swan” Emma said quite nervously, she didn’t know what to tell her or how for that matter.

“Hi Emma, Elsa had already told me that maybe you would come” Mulan said, before getting up and greeting Emma with her hand, once Emma accepted, she have a quick shake before seating back.

“Yeah, she gave your business card”

“I figured it out. So, what can I do for you?”

“Well, I was hoping that you could help me find one person” Emma said, handling her a folder with all the information she had of where Regina might be.

“Has this person committed any felony?” Mulan asked, taking the file and going through it.

“See, that’s the point. Regina is my best friend and I’m pretty sure that her mother kidnapped her, I meand I understand that bounty hunters-“

“Bail bondspersons” Mulan interrupted.

“Right, bail bondsperson look for people that skip audiences or try to escape and that sort of thing. But umm… I just want to find her.” Emma said, on the verge of tears escaping her eyes.

Blinking fast to avoid this happening she then added, “I don’t have a lot of money, so I was wondering if I could work here, like an internship, as payment for helping me.”

“So, let me get this clear.” Mulan said after a few second of silence “You want to find your best friend that was kidnapped by her own mother two years ago but you don’t neither the money to pay for the services though you’re willing to work here as well as you don’t have any access to anything that could help us track her?” Mulan finished, knowing that there was something between these two girls. A best friend does not go and do everything humanly possible to find the other “best friend”.

“Yeah, once I tracked all the way here to NYC but her mother… well, she found out and things didn’t end well.” Emma said, looking down at her feet.

“So, I must assume that her mother is a person with power?”

“Yeah, quite a lot actually. So, can you help me?”

“Yeah, I think that if you’re willing to work here I can help you. But you’ll be doing the boring stuff. We don’t want any newbie ruining our cases.”

Emma couldn’t help the grin that appeared in her face. Not only she was one step closer to finding Regina, but she would be working as well. It was a win-win situation.

“Great, so when can I start off?” Emma asked, barely containing her excitement.

“Probably next week, I just need to talk to my boss about your payment but after that, everything should be good to go”. The brunette said, giving Emma a small smile.

“ ‘Kay, so see you next week” Emma said as she started walking. But then, she stopped in her tracks and once more she faced Mulan.

“I just wanted to ask you something, is there anything between the girl at the front desk?” Emma said, not knowing if she had overstepped any boundaries. “I mean, you don’t have to answer.”

“I would prefer not to” the brunette said, but the blush that was on her cheeks gave her away.

“Yeah, no problem” Emma replied with a little mischievous smile. “I should get going. Bye.”

“Goodbye Emma.” Mulan said before going back to her work.

 

1 week later

Emma arrived early at Mulan’s office. She had managed to rearrange her schedule so she could have Monday mornings free as well as Wednesday. She would also have to work on the weekends, but the blonde didn’t mind at all.

If this was what she had to do to find Regina, she would do it.

She passed Aurora’s desk, giving her a small nod and smile, though Aurora only gave her a nod. Emma guessed she was still being jealous; it’s not like the blonde didn’t know that she had a fantastic body and had been told many times that she was a very good-looking woman.

But Emma only had eyes for a special brunette, one she hadn’t seen in over two years but that she hadn’t forgotten nor stopped loving her.

She knocked on Mulan’s door to ask her what would she be doing her job/internship.

“Emma, I was already waiting for you” Mulan said, not looking up to acknowledge the blonde.

“Yeah, so I was told you would tell me what to do” Emma said.

“Yes, you’ll be organizing all the information and papers from each case into a separate folder for each. Also, if someone needs a copy or anything, you’ll be the one that will do it, filling up some simple paperwork and so on. So, it’s basically a secretary job.” Mulan finished, finally looking up to the blonde.

“Um, yeah, okay sure.” Emma said, with a little frown. She expected the job to be kind of boring since she was a newbie and all of that, but she didn’t expect it to be THAT boring. But, she wasn’t about to complain; God knows she couldn’t afford losing the job.

“I don’t need to remind that all this information is confidential, do I?” Mulan asked in a serious tone raising an eyebrow, giving the blonde the understanding that there would not be a first warning, In any case it would be first and last warning, plus being fired.

“No, I understand that completely.”

“Good, so I’ll show your desk and then you can start working.”

They exited Mulan’s office and moved towards the soon-to-be Emma’s desk. It was in the very far corner, isolated from the action but close enough to the photocopy machine.

“Here’s your desk, here are your first files.” Mulan said pointing at the already big pile of folders. “Don’t take too long in organizing these files, these are still open cases so if we can’t find certain information it will only delay our work and you’ll be guilty about it. Understood?” Mulan asked, and Emma only gave a simple nod.

Mulan then went back to her office, while Emma only gave a long sigh before dropping herself onto the chair of the desk.

She started opening the first file only to realize that there were, at least, ten other files about that same case; Mulan had given her precise instructions on how to organize the files, and apparently some of the paperwork of the cases that should be by now filled out, there were still some blank spaced. Emma made a mental note to ask Mulan about that.

“This is going to be a long day.” Emma muttered to herself, as she dropped her head on to the desk.

The days went on and nothing out of the routine came up. She was still organizing the never-ending file; how the bounty hunters at this office could be so disorganized in a job that supposedly required being organized, she would never know. Of course, the occasional “can you photocopy me this?” and boring secretary stuff.

Until one day, she was organizing a file of a Killian Jones. The file said that she had been evading the cops, and every time they were close to catch, he somehow would escape. 

Apparently, he had been involved in some fraud, didn’t show up to court and now he was fugitive. Finally, the cops decided to let this case to go to a bail bondsperson, though no one had any idea of ho to catch this guy. Instantly, Emma could see that this was a one-night stand guy, and playing those cards correctly anyone could easily catch him.

Emma had an idea, though how well it would it be received by Mulan was the question. She gathered the courage to go suggest her what the blonde had in mind. She knocked on Mulan’s door. Mulan said a quick “come in.”

“Hello Emma, what can I do for you?” Mulan asked.

“I want to ask something” Emma said rather nervous. She thought this was a good idea and now she was starting to regret it.

“Look, if you’re here to ask me about Regina I already told you that I would do everything to find her but still nothing has showed up.” Mulan replied.

“No, it wasn’t about her. It was about this guy Killian Jones” Emma said, raising the file.

“Do you know him?” Mulan inquired.

“No, but you can see straight away that anything that has to do with having good sex, he’ll do it” Emma replies, and Mulan arched an eyebrow to this. 

“Okay… I still don’t see how this is relevant to the case”

“Well, if you could find someone that is willing to go on a fake date with him, you could easily catch him.” Emma said with a shrug.

Everything was silent for the next two minutes, though for Emma it felt like an eternity.

“That’s… not such a bad idea” Mulan said.

Emma gave a relief breath. Mulan saw potential in Emma, and maybe this time was the best time for giving it a try.

“Emma, would you be willing to be that fake date?” Mulan asked the blonde.

“I… what?” Emma stuttered.

“Yeah, we can set you up with him, then you’ll have to trick to him so the cops can catch them without him escaping” Mulan said as it was the most common thing in the world.

“Okay, yeah. Why not?” Emma said, in what she was hoping to be a confident tone.

“Perfect, I’ll let you know of the details.” Mulan said, quickly going back to work to settle up this little ingenious plan.

 

After founding Killian on a dating site, chatting with him, going to the most awful date Emma could ever imagined, smashing the guy’s face against the wheel and finally returning home, it seemed that Emma had a real talent to finding persons.  
The blonde didn’t feel too excited about going back to work on Monday. She knew everything had gone according to her plan, and she was all excited during the fake date and thrill that came with chasing a man out of the restaurant, in high heels Emma added on her mind, only to find his car booted and finally smashing his head against the wheel after some sexist comment., and know she didn’t want to get again to all the secretary boring stuff.

Entering the office, Emma gave a quick greeting nod to Aurora when she addressed Emma.

“Mulan is waiting for you in her office.” Aurora said.

“Okay, thank you.” Emma replied.

Now what? Emma thought. Mulan hadn’t asked for her in all the time Emma had been working there, so this had her extremely nervous. She knocked on Mulan’s door before entering.

“Hello Emma.” Mulan said, and raising her head to look at the blonde. Okay, this is super weird. Emma though to herself, Mulan never raised her head.

“Hi, so Aurora told me you wanted to see me” Emma said, trying to hide the nervousness in her voice.

“Yes, I actually have a proposal for you.” Mulan said.

“Okay, what is it?” Emma asked, feeling the nervousness inside her getting bigger and bigger.

“Would you like to become an official bail bondsperson?” Mulan asked hopefully. The way Emma handled Killian Jones during her fake date proved to Mulan that Emma was actually pretty good at finding people, and God knew the office needed another bail bondsperson.

“Wait, what?” Emma asked, lifting her eyebrows in confusion and disbelief. Had she heard correctly? 

“I asked you if you wanted to be a bail bondsperson.” 

“But you said you didn’t want a newbie out there.” Emma said still in shock after hearing once again Mulan’s proposal.

“Techically, you aren’t a newbie anymore, and after how you managed the situation with Jones, well, the only thing I can tell is that you have potential. The job is yours, that of course, if you decide to accept.” 

“I… umm… Yeah, I would like that.” Emma said, after a few seconds of not knowing what to say.

“Perfect, you can start working now, off you go.” Mulan said, finally going back work.

Emma exited the office, finally the first wave of shocked passed and was overcome with a wave of pure happiness.

One step closer. Emma couldn’t stop thinking about how close she would be to finding the brunette that had held her heart for as long as she could remember.

While Emma was bouncing all over the place with happiness, she was unaware that she had caught once more the attention of Cora Mills.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me what you think! :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! So yeah, I'm sorry in advance. You can follow me in Tumblr as swanqueen-gives-me-life.
> 
> All mistakes are mine.
> 
> Disclaimer in chapter 1.

2 years later

It was already dark when Emma got out from work. She had been working all week on a case, no one had found the guy, even though Emma had become one of the bet bounty hunters the office had ever had. 

Also, it didn’t help that after two years of searching relentlessly for Regina, nothing had come up. Today had been specially frustrating, between the several cases she had yet to finish, trying to find the Regina and the never-ending worry of what Cora would be doing in that moment, she had thrown one of the flower pots that decorated her office straight into the bookshelves.

Mulan and she had formed a friendly relationship, though they still kept things very professional, and she was still seeing Elsa from time to time and Emma could actually say that she was now her best friend.

The blonde started walking down the street, with the firm intention of getting to her dorm and sleep, good thing that she didn’t have classes tomorrow morning, she was in no mood to being lectured for six hours a day. 

She was answering some texts in her phone that she didn’t notice when a brunette passed her and stop right in her tracks.

“Emma Swan?” 

At the mention of her name, Emma looked up and turned around to see no other than Ruby Lucas. They hadn’t seen each other since they got out from high school and the relationship was still very tense.

“Ruby?” Emma asked, almost as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“Yeah.” Ruby started to fidget. Neither girl knew how to address the other one.

Emma took a step towards Ruby. “How have you been?” She asked, trying not to give away how awkward she was feeling.

“Good, very good. Belle and I moved in together and we are renting a small flat here in New York.” Ruby said, with a little smile.

“That’s great Ruby.” Emma replied.

“Umm, do you want to go for a drink? To catch up?” Ruby asked nervously. 

“Yeah, sure.” Emma answered, and they started walking in an uncomfortable silence.

“So, how you’ve been doing?” The brunette asked.

“Fine, I’m still studying and I got a job so everything is going just fine.” Emma said, though one could easily tell that everything was not fine for the blonde; Emma didn’t want to tell Ruby anything about how she hadn’t been able to find Regina, in fear of her reaction. She still couldn’t understand how after many years of Ruby telling her to tell Regina she loved her, suddenly she was saying to let her go. Unfortunately for her, Ruby knew better.

“Any luck with Regina?” Ruby asked, though she already knew the answer to that question. Not only because she was able to tell that Emma was hiding something from her, but because someone had already told her that Regina was still kept by her mother. 

“Nop.” Emma said dryly, not wanting to tell Ruby anything else.

Ruby didn’t respond to that. Emma was very distracted, and didn’t notice when Ruby led them to an alley until it was too late.

“Emma, I’m so sorry.” Ruby said, not walking anymore and waiting for Emma to acknowledge what was happening.

“Wh- What are we doing here?” Emma asked. “Why are you saying sorry?”

Ruby didn’t have a chance to answer that when a figure emerged from the shadows.

“Hello dear” The figure said and Emma knew exactly who was there. Cora.

“Cora?” Emma said in disbelief, still in quite a shock. Nothing good could come up from meeting with Cora, and knowing the blonde’s history with her, this wasn’t the exception.

“Ruby, what are you doing with Cora?” Emma said, turning to Ruby.

“I’m so sorry Emma.” Ruby said, with a tear running down her cheek. She hated that she had to betray her best friend that way, knowing all the effort Emma had put in finding Regina.

“Don’t you know that this woman was the one that kidnapped Regina? The woman that kidnapped her own daughter?” Emma yelled towards Ruby.

“I didn’t have a choice Emma.”

“Still I don’t understand what are you doing with her!”

“She threatened Belle!” Ruby yelled back. “I couldn’t risk the chance that Belle could get hurt. I had to talk you against going on this quest to find Regina and when you didn’t listen you know what happened.” Ruby said, remembering the day when she found Emma all beaten up.

“And don’t you think that I wanted to do everything to avoid Regina being hurt? Avoid getting beaten up that every single movement hurt like a bitch? You had the choice to fight back!” Emma said, feeling the anger boil inside her.

“Don’t you think I know that? But I’m not brave like you Emma and I’m really sorry that our friendship had to end like this.”

Emma was shocked, she couldn’t say anything, the lump in her throat didn’t allow her to find her voice.

“Ruby you can leave. ” Finally Cora said.

Ruby started walking to get out of that alley, she didn’t want to leave her friend with Cora because she knew that if she did Emma would most likely end up dead but she couldn’t risk Belle’s safety. Beside, as she had told Emma, she wasn’t brave; she wasn’t some sort of savior.

“I’m really sorry.” Ruby added, before turning to leave.  
“Now dear, where were we?” Cora asked.

“How did you find me?” Emma asked, still in shock but finally being able to let some words out.

“Oh I have my means darling, but remember that night a couple years ago when you went on this date with a man? I recognized you immediately and I thought that you had finally moved on, but after seeing you chase him down the street I knew that you were up to something. I discovered that you were a bail bondsperson and you were still looking for Regina. I think the rest you can figure it out.” Cora explained in the most relaxed tone. Emma wasn’t used to this, because the fact that Cora was so relaxed only meant that she already had planned this ambush.

“What do you want Cora?” Emma sputtered.

“There is no need to being rude. I’m just trying to have small chat with you.”

Emma scoffed. “Yeah, sure and I’m supposed to believe that I’m going to walk away unharmed.” She knew her life was in danger, and Emma slipped her hand into her pocket, in the most discreet way, and reached her phone. 

“Well dear, that would have been the case if you had listened to what I said to you all those years ago.” Cora said, with a tone that could easily be mistaken with that of a queen, sending a shiver through Emma’s spine.

“I promised myself that I would do anything in my power to find Regina, and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing for four years.” Emma replied, not willing to let Cora get under her skin.

“Oh you foolish girl, don’t you know? Love is weakness. There cannot be power and control if you love someone, and Regina will one day become one of the most powerful women in the country and you’ve have been keeping her from getting there.” 

“Have you even wondered what might Regina want out of her life? Her desires, her dreams? Because by judging what you just said, you’re only doing this for selfish reasons.” Emma countered.

“I’m just doing this because it’s what’s best for her.” 

“Bullshit. Why can’t you just let her be happy?” Emma asked in a desperate tone. She couldn’t believe how someone who was supposed to love you no matter what, was doing all these things just to hurt someone.

“Because Regina will never be happy. She doesn’t know how and besides, how could anyone possibly love her?” Cora said with a giggle, thinking of the ridiculousness of someone loving Regina and her loving back.

“I LOVE HER!” Emma yelled. “I love her and I’ll always will.”

“Well, dear. That is rather unfortunate seeing that you’ll have no much time left to love her. But first, I want to ask you a question, why didn’t you tell her that when you could?” Cora asked, genuinely curious as to why neither girl had admitted their true feelings; not that she cared, of course but it was a very interesting situation.

“Because I don’t know how she feels. I can live with her being my best friend but to be open to the possibility of being rejected? Thanks but no thanks.” Emma scoffed; she had been rejected her whole life more times that she could count, and the mere thought of Regina rejecting her was breaking her heart.

“Oh my, this just turned out to be more interesting than I thought. You both are blind to what is front of you, but don’t worry better for me.” Cora said before putting her hand inside her bag to retrieve something.

Emma just saw the movements of the woman, and knew that whatever she pulled out it would put in danger her life. She still had her hand over her phone; lucky for her, there were some perks of being a bounty hunter and her safety, she quickly unlocked her phone and sent Mulan her location. She just hoped that anyone would arrive there in time.

“I am really sorry that I have to turn to… desperate measures to ensure Regina’s success and that you’ll no longer be an obstacle.” Cora took out the thing inside her bag.

Before Emma could react to what was happening, a loud shot was heard, with some sirens in the background and she just knew that whoever had come, they were a little too late. The last thing she saw in her mind before everything went black was the face of Regina. I’ll always love you, I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you, were her final thoughts.

 

Mulan was relaxing in her flat when her phone lit up. It was really weird that someone sent her a text, the only person that did so was Aurora, but it was quite late and Aurora wasn’t one to stay up all night.

She looked at her phone and saw the name on the screen. Emma Swan. The blonde didn’t text her and if she had to call her, she would call her to her work phone or to the office, never to her personal phone.

Mulan immediately knew that something was wrong. She opened the text and saw the location, she immediately went to call the cops; she grabbed her keys and went off to find Emma.

Please let her be okay. Mulan pleaded to any god that was in heaven, because even though the blonde and her had a professional relationship and the beginning of a friendship, she still cared a lot about the blonde that had become one of the best bounty hunters in the whole office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry not sorry. Tell me what you think! Thank you for the response.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New Chapter!! Sorry for the wait, but here it is. Thank you fo the response.
> 
> All mistakes are mine.
> 
> Disclaimer in chapter 1

She could hear a faint beep somewhere to her left, she could also hear some voices a little further than the beep. Emma was trying so hard to fight against going back to sleep and to open her eyes, but her whole body felt sore, her eyelids felt heavy and she couldn’t remember where she was.

The last thing he remembered were her last thoughts before she lost consciousness. I’m so sorry Regina. Well, depending on where she was, maybe she would still be able to find Regina.

Apparently, she her movements didn’t go unnoticed and she suddenly felt a hand grabbing hers.

“Sshh, don’t try to move just yet.” It was Mulan’s voice.

“Where… am… I?” Her voice came out raspy, and everything hurt.

“You’re in the hospital, that’s all I will tell you until you’re better.” Mulan said firm but still with a soft tone.

Emma gave a little smile before she drifted back to sleep. She didn’t know hat time it was, what date it was, the only thing that mattered for her was that she was alive, apparently she was going to make it and that she had another opportunity to find Regina.

She woke up again a few hours later, or at least that’s what she thought, she still was unsure of how much time it had passed since she heard the gunshot to this point.

Slowly, she opened her eyes only to closed them back because there was too much light in the room. She tried once more and this time she managed to open completely her eyes and stare at her surroundings. It was a common hospital room, nothing out of the ordinary; just in that moment a nurse came in, surely to check on her vitals

“Oh miss, you’re awake.” The nurse said, surprised but still with a smile on her face. Yeah, she supposed being awake was a good thing.

“Yeah, I am.” Emma’s voice still came a little raspy but less than when she had talked to Mulan.

“Let me go call your doctor.” The nurse said and left the room.

She tried to sit up, but the pain in her abdomen was too much to handle at the moment, so she stopped moving and let out a groan of pain. Emma saw the T.V. in front of her, so she turned her head from right to left to see if by some chance the remote control was left at a distance she could reach without having to move so much and rip the stitches that she was almost completely sure she had.

No such luck. She spotted the control over the chairs that were at her right, so the only option she had was to wait for the doctor and pray that he would arrive sooner rather than later.

Fortunately for her, she didn’t have to wait much longer, as just five minutes after the doctor came in, followed by a Mulan that had an uncharacteristic relief face.

“Hi Emma, my name’s Doctor Grey. Before I tell you why exactly you’re here, can I ask you what’s the last thing you remember?” The doctor, who has a woman in her early thirties and darkish blonde hair, asked her.

“I don’t remember much, I just remember a loud sound, similar to a gunshot, then that I was on the ground and then everything went black.” Emma answered.

“Okay, it’s fine.” The doctor replied. “So, I’ll tell you everything that concerns your medical situation and I believe Miss Fa will help fill some blanks you may have.” Emma only nodded at this, and looked towards Mulan that had sited on one of the chairs in the room, and she as well gave a small nod that conveyed the promise of telling Emma everything.

“So, you were shot in the chest and you were quite lucky because the bullet passed millimeters from your heart, the problem was that the bullet did touched your left lung, so you lost a lot of blood and there were a few complications during surgery when we were removing it, but we were able to control all the bleedings and now we’re looking at a full recovery.” Grey gave a reassuring smile, which Emma returned.

“Now, I’ll leave you both of you some space. I’ll come in later to check on your stitches. I don’t need to remind you that while the surgery was successful, you still have stitches and we don’t want them ripped up apart, do we?” 

“No, doctor. I’ll make sure Emma here doesn’t move more than just what’s necessary.” And she turned to Emma and gave her a look that told her that wasn’t open to discussion, not that she would try to do anything, she was quite tired and with a reason.

“Good. See you later Miss Swan.” The doctor finally said and exited the room.

Mulan was still sited and hadn’t said a word since the doctor had left the room. Emma looked at her trying to read her face and what was she thinking. Was she feeling angry, sad, disappointed? 

“So, are you going to say anything?” Emma asked, breaking the silence that was hanging around them.

“How could you be so stupid?” Mulan asked her, still on the chair.

“I… mmm… what?” Emma was caught off guard by the question.

Mulan was now standing and pacing around the room but keeping her eyes on Emma. “How could you be so stupid? What did you do that you were off guard?”

“I don’t know, I was distracted by Ruby and all the memories that the encounter made me remember and then, before I knew what was happening I was in the alley and Ruby was saying she was sorry and the next thing I know, Cora is standing in front of me with a gun in her!” Emma said a little bit too fast.

“Haven’t these few years taught you anything?” Mulan was glaring at her, clearly angry at the whole situation.

“Yes! Be grateful that I sent you my location in time!” Emma snapped.

“Did you know how worried I was? When I arrived at the alley, you were there on the floor, there was so much blood and I thought that I had lost one of the best bounty hunters I’ve ever met and a friend!” Mulan snapped back, but finally she let herself calm down.

“Yeah, sorry for that.” Emma said, sheepishly.

“At least you have the decency to look guilty.” Mulan said, in a much calmer tone, and approached the bed and have Emma’s hand a soft squeeze.

“So, what happened when you arrived?” Emma asked curiously.

“Well, fortunately enough, when we arrived Cora was still there, she didn’t have any time to escape so it was pretty easy to catch her. You were already unconscious, so the meds climbed you quickly on the ambulance and when we got to the hospital, the doctor rushed you to the OR and you knoe the rest of the story.” Mulan said, pulling one of the chairs closer to the bed.

“What will happen to Cora?” 

“She is currently being charged with attempted murder, illegal possession of an a gun, and I’m pretty sure that there is some kind of investigation going on regarding her business, apparently she was blackmailing everyone so she could get the deals she wanted and there is also something about some kind of fraud. So, must likely, she will spend the rest of her life behind bars.” Mulan said with a satisfactory grin. 

Emma gave a small smile before it faded and she looked down. “Do you know anything about Regina?” She had hoped that with Cora’s arrest, the police or anyone would come up with Regina’s location.

“No, I’m sorry Emma.” Mulan said, before getting up. “I have to return to the office, but call me if you need anything. Also, I think that your friend Elsa is going to come, so you don’t have to worry about getting bored.” She moved towards the door before giving Emma one last glance. “I’m glad you’re okay.” Mulan said with a small smile.

“Yeah, me too.” And Emma returned the gesture. “Oh, before I forget, do you have my phone?” Emma almost yelled before Mulan was out of her earshot.

“Oh, yes.” Mulan reaches in her pocket to retrieve Emma’s phone and then moves to give it to Emma before finally leaving the room.

Emma unlocked her phone and thankfully, she still had a little more than half battery and she saw that there were a over 10 missed calls and more than 20 messages from her parents telling her how they had seen in T.V. Cora’s arrest and asking her if she was fine; there were a few from Elsa and decided to text her to see if she was really coming to the hospital.

She was starting to write the text when she heard someone approaching the room. She then Elsa saw entering her room.

“How dare you scare me like that?” Elsa practically yelled and Emma had to shush her so not to wake any patients or force the doctors to bring security.

“Don’t you shush me, how am I supposed to react after my best friend almost dies?” Elsa asked, lowering her tone but still loud enough that forced Emma to shush her once more.

“I’m sorry?” Emma said, with the decency enough to look guilty.

“Yeah, you bet your ass you’re sorry.” Elsa said, before calming down. “I’m sorry Emma, but you have no idea the panic I felt when I saw the news, I had to apologize to Mulan because I thought she had sent you into that trap and yelled at her more than necessary.” She could see some tears begin to form in Elsa’s eyes.

“I’m really sorry I worried you, but now I’m fine. And besides, I don’t plan to go anytime soon.” Emma said.

Elsa sat down on the chair closest to the bed. “Good, because I would kill you if you ever did.” Emma is glad that they’ve returned to their usual talks.

“So, now what are you going to do?” Elsa asks and Emma doesn’t need anything else to know what she is referring to.

“I really don’t know, because Cora was my closest link to finding Regina but now, I don’t know what to do. I guess I will still be searching the way I’ve been doing it until I find her.” Emma said, looking down. It had been a little over four years since she last saw Regina, and she still missed her like the very first day she knew Cora kidnapped her.

“Don’t worry Em, you’ll find her.” Elsa tried to give a reassuring smile, though she didn’t know if it had the intended or not. She got up and turned to leave the room. “I’m going to get something to eat, I’m starving. Do you want anything?” Elsa asked.

“No, I’m good. Besides, I’m not even sure I’m allowed to have a cheeseburger.” Emma chuckled.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. I’ll come back later. Don’t move.” Elsa said.

“Don’t worry.” Emma replied, and then Elsa left the room. She grabbed her phone and started calling her parents, she didn’t have to wait long before Mary Margaret answered.

“Emma! Where are you? Are you okay? What happened?” Mary Margaret asked all too quickly.  
“Relax, Mary Margaret.” Emma hadn’t been able to call them mom and dad even after all the time she had spent with them, though she truly considered them her parents. “Right now, I’m in the hospital, I had surgery but everything went fine.” She purposely avoided the last question.

“Oh thank god.” And Emma could hear a big sigh of relief over the phone. “So, did they tell you how long till you recover?” Mary Margaret asked.

“Nop, but I guess a couple of weeks, shouldn’t be too long.”

“Oh okay, so David and I were wondering if you wanted to come to Storybrooke for Christmas? It’s been a while since you last visited and we thought that this would be the perfect occasion for you to come.” 

Emma thought about it for a moment. She damn well deserve some time off the bounty hunters business and she missed her parents a lot, and she might as well enjoy the quiet and calm life of Storybrooke and get out for a bit from the rushed life in New York.

“Yeah, sure why not? It’ll be nice to set foot on Storybrooke for a while.” Emma said, with a smile on her face, already looking forward to it.

“Great, so just let us know when you’re coming and we’ll have your room ready.” Mary Margaret said.

“Yeah, okay. Hey, I’m growing tired and I could use some sleep. Talk to you guys later.” Emma replied.

“Of course, Emma. Don’t forget to call us, love you.” 

“Love you too, bye.” Emma said before ending the call and getting some rest.

She was excited to see her parents again, but she didn’t know that going back to Storybrooke had been the best decision of her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the Kudos and if you can leave a comment, please don't hesitate in doing so. :)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! So, I hope how this chapter turned out.
> 
> All mistakes are mine.
> 
> Disclaimer in chapter 1
> 
> On with the show

December came and with that, the preparations for the Holidays and the hope of something new, of something different but also something she longed for almost four years. Love.

She had wanted to go back to Storybrooke the moment she heard about her mother’s arrest, but after the investigations started regarding her mother’s business, she had been unable to leave the big city. Now, not only she didn’t have a job but also she was all alone in a time that’s supposed to bring families together. She just had to have faith that going back to her hometown would allow her to see the person she had fallen in love with. 

She was now free to love whoever she wanted, but would she be able to face the fact that a certain blonde might had never loved her? That she would loose once more the most important person in her life? Probably not, but she had been so scared of admitting her feelings four years ago and now, now that she had the chance to start over, she decided that she was going to take a chance.

Regina grabbed her car keys, started the engine and began her road towards Storybrooke. She started replaying all the memories she had with Emma. The day they met, when she realized that she had fallen in love, the day Emma gave her the necklace that was now hanging around her neck, or the last time she had seen the blonde.

She started playing with the necklace, the sole thing that made her feel like she was connected to the blonde. She was well aware that this visit might end in a heartbreak, but she needed to tell Emma how she felt, and maybe, just maybe, she would hear Emma repeat those same words. I love you.

“Please Emma, please be there.” Regina muttered to herself, praying to any existent god that Emma would be there.

She then saw the sign that said “Welcome to Storybrooke” and with that, she said one more prayer to find the woman she loved.

 

It had been a couple of weeks since she was discharged from the hospital, and now she was packing for a well-deserved vacation. She had missed her parents and, she never thought she would say so, she missed the more or less calm life in Storybrooke.

“You’ll call me when you arrive won’t you?” Elsa asked, she had moved in with Emma for the couple of weeks she had been in recovery. Emma gave a small chuckle.

“Yes, I will mom.” Emma said.

“Ha ha, so funny Emma.” Elsa said, sticking out her tone like she was a five year old. “But really, I just need to know you’ll be okay.” She said in all seriousness.

“I promise I’ll call you when I get there.” Emma replied grabbing the other woman’s hand and giving a little squeeze, as if she was saying that she had nothing to worry about.

“Thank you, was that so hard?” Elsa said, back in the mood to tease Emma, while Emma just laughed. Elsa had truly become her best friend and even sometimes even her conscience, and she was grateful for that.

“How long are you planning to stay?” Elsa asked.

“I don’t know, I’m going to pass Christmas there and I don’t know about New Year’s.” Emma replied, sitting on the couch in the living room, Elsa followed her.

“You know you can come back and get drunk if the family meeting doesn’t go very well, don’t you?” Elsa said, bumping Emma’s shoulder.

Emma chuckled. “Yeah, I know though I hope it won’t be necessary and I don’t know how much I like the idea of being with you…” Emma teased.

Elsa let out a fake loud gasp. “You offend me, what would you do without me?”  
Emma laughed, but her tone was all too serious. “I really don’t know.”

“Well, good thing you’ll never have to find out.” Elsa said giving a small smile, which Emma returned.

Emma then got up and moved the small suitcase to her bug. It was still early and you could get to Storybrooke in a little less than two hours, so she still had time to chill with her roommate and best friend.

“You know you can call me at any time don’t you?” Elsa asked her. Emma didn’t need any more information to know what she was referring to.

Ever since she was shot, she had been having trouble with sleeping; she would wake up in the middle of the night after her nightmare where instead of her being shot, the person at the end of the line of fire was Regina and she was unable of saving her, listening only to the malicious laugh of Cora.

“Yeah, I know.” Emma replied and gave a reassuring smile.

After watching two movies and the new episode of a series they watched together, Emma decided that it was time to leave. She got up and hugged Elsa promising her she would call her. Elsa had been there for her after the whole surgery deal and she finally felt like someone actually cared for her.

Emma got in her bug, started the engine and put some music in; she absolutely loathed when everything was silent. I found by Amber Run started playing o the radio; it was an unusual song to play, but it was welcomed nonetheless. Emma had never heard it but the calm rhythm and the lyrics were what made Emma smile.

And I found love where it wasn’t supposed to be  
Right in front of me

She guessed it was appropriate to her situation, she had found Regina, she had become her best friend and then, she had become the person she fell in love with, even if they were barely 16 and still had a lifetime ahead.

The blonde hadn’t expected at all to fall for someone so deeply, or that her life would revolve around finding the person she thought she would always have by her side. Guess, one could say that here applies perfectly the saying “expect the unexpected”.

She hummed the song as she continued her road towards her hometown. It was good to come back, to see once again her parents, the familiar streets and of course, Granny’s. She should’ve brought something to eat along the way. Guess I’ll have to wait until I get there, she thought; just thinking about Granny’s made her crave a bearclaw. Yup, she couldn’t wait till she got there.

The only thing that would be missing in a town where everything pretty much stayed the same, was Regina. She began imagining how it would be having Regina by her side, going anywhere they liked, going to visit Storybrooke, being mar… She stopped herself at that train of thought.

Of course Emma didn’t want to give up on hope, but having unrealistic expectations was not going to help her. She repeated one more time her mantra, because even though it might take her several years to find Regina, she would always love her.

 

She arrived at Storybrooke a little bit before 7 o’clock, so it gave her perfect time to go to Granny’s, buy and eat a bearclaw, and in between say hi to Granny of course, though she wasn’t quite sure if she wanted to say hi to every single person in there. Besides, her parents weren’t expecting her until half an hour later so she had some time to kill.

The bell at the entrance marking her way in did not help in going as unnoticed as she had wanted, because a new face always meant gossip and Storybrooke was not at all the most touristic site in all the country.

Thankfully, seeing that it was only Emma returning to her home allowed Emma to say some awkward hellos here and there before approaching the counter. Granny was her usual self, yelling at everyone to get the orders right and in time; she turned around from where she was and immediately she saw Emma and made her way towards the counter as fast as she could, though the years had taken its toll.

“Emma! I’m so glad you’re back.” Granny gave her hand a squeeze and smiled at her.

“Yeah, I’m glad I’m here too. So, umm how’s it been around here?” Emma asked.

“Oh you know, the same as usual. How’s life treating you?” Granny said.

“Good, could be better but I don’t complain.” Emma replied with a stifle smile. “So, can I have a bearclaw and a coffee please?” Emma asked.

“Sure thing.” Granny answered and gave Emma a smile. She went for Emma’s food and gave them to her. Emma grabbed them, left some bills on the counter and left Granny’s to go to her parents loft.

She then drove to her parents’ house, parking in front of the of fire station building. Emma grabbed her suitcase and climbed the stairs. She then rang the bell and waited for her parents to open the door. She didn’t had to wait more than one minute before Mary Margaret had opened it and proceeded to engulf Emma in a tight embrace; the hug had taken her a little off guard, so she stumbled a bit before regaining her balance.

“Emma! We missed you so much.” Mary Margaret said louder than necessary.

“Yeah, it’s good to see you too.” Emma said returning the hug.

The short brunette pulled away, frowned and smacked Emma’s arm.

“Ow! What was that for?” Emma asked rubbing her arm; she certainly hadn’t expected that.

“Never do that again Emma! We were so worried. I thought we had lost you.” Mary Margaret snapped.

“Sorry, but here I am. I’m fine, just one more scar to add to the collection.” Emma chuckled.

“Emma, this isn’t funny, you could’ve died.”

“I know, but I didn’t and now everything is fine. So, where’s David?” Emma asked, changing the subject.

“Oh! Yeah, he’s inside preparing dinner.” Mary Margaret said, allowing Emma to enter the small loft.

Emma finally stepped in and Mary Margaret closed the door behind her. Hearing the door closing, David moved away from the kitchen and went to give Emma another hug. The blonde had missed what it felt like to feel loved in such a simple gesture.

“Hey David.” Emma greeted him.

“Hi Emma, I’m so glad you could make it.” David said before pulling away. 

“I couldn’t wait to see you again, so there was no way I wouldn’t come.” Emma said, grinning at being home again. She had been living in NYC for almost two years, but it didn’t felt like home.

“Let me take this upstairs.” David said, pointing at her suitcase, before grabbing it and walking towards Emma’s old bedroom.

“When are you going back?” Mary Margaret asked Emma.

“I don’t know, I was thinking about staying until after New Year’s, I that’s okay with you.” Emma said, she really hadn’t thought about this, and Mary Margaret and David hadn’t told her until when she could stay.

“Of course it is, sweetheart. We’re glad having you here.” Mary Margaret said.

“Okay, thanks. Mmm do you need help with anything?” Emma asked pointing towards the kitchen.

Actually yeah.” Mary Margaret smiled. “Umm do you think you could go to the store for a bottle of wine? We forgot to buy it earlier today.”

“Yeah, sure. Any type in specific?” 

“No, whichever you want.”

With that, Emma gave a small nod and walked out of the apartment towards the convenience store. She bought the wine she knew she liked, she was more a beer kind of girl, and returned to the loft. The short trip couldn’t have taken more than fifteen minutes.

She was going to open the door and started searching in her pockets for the keys.

“Shit.” Emma muttered after realizing she had forgotten them. She then had to knock the door. 

Nobody came to open it and Emma knocked a second time. It was then when David opened the door with a face like he had seen a ghost.

“Emma… umm… we… she…” David stuttered. Emma frowned when she saw the state David was.

“David what’s going on?” Emma started to panic.

David took a deep breath and gathered the courage to say what he had to say next. “Emma, your friend has found you. She is here.”

Emma’s heart dropped to the bottom of her gut. “Wh-what do you mean?” Emma asked in disbelief at the same time that she was entering the loft. She looked around the loft until she saw two persons in the living room. One of them was Mary Margaret and the other was… no, she had to be dreaming, there was no way this was happening right now. She almost dropped the bag that had the wine.

“Regina?” Emma said in complete shock. She couldn’t believe what her eyes were seeing. 

“Hey.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to add a comment :)


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Sorry for the wait, here's the new chapter, I hope you'll enjoy it.
> 
> All mistakes are mine
> 
> Disclaimer in chapter 1

_“Regina?” Emma said in complete shock. She couldn’t believe what her eyes were seeing._

_“Hey.”_

This was not really happening. Emma must have gone crazy in the last five minutes so the person she wanted to find most, the person she wanted to see most, the person she had fallen in love with, were standing in front of her.

 

Emma blinked a few times just to make sure that this wasn’t a dream. If it were a dream, it would have been a very cruel dream.

 

“Wh-what… how…you…what?” Emma stuttered. Her voice came out raspy, because she was trying to chock back the sobs that would surely come back any minute now. Emma took a deep breath and swallowed to clear her throat.

 

“What are you doing here?” Emma tried again, finally saying a coherent phrase, but her tone came out a little bit too harsh. She was extremely surprised, and to be completely honest still a little bit shocked of what was happening, not that it was an unwelcome surprise but she couldn’t imagine how was it that Regina was standing in front of her. The sweet innocent girl she had once met was gone but instead she saw a beautiful and strong woman; her face was the same but her brown locks were shorter and Emma thought she had seen a scar on the right side of her lips, that she was sure wasn’t there the last time she had seen her.

 

“I… umm…” Regina was taken aback by the hard tone. Surely Emma had moved on, and her entering again in her life was certainly not part of the blonde’s plans. She guessed she should have listened to her mother: Emma had forgotten her.

 

Regina cleared her throat. “I came to Storybrooke to see you, but I guess I shouldn’t have.” The brunette was trying hard to keep the tears that were starting to form in her eyes abbey. “I’m sorry if I interrupted something. I’ll see myself out.” Regina said as composed as she could be and started walking towards the door, but her tone gave her away of how hurt she was and allowed Emma to finally step out of her trance.

 

“No, Regina, wait.” Emma said as she reached out for the brunette’s arm. “I didn’t mean like that.”

 

Regina turned around, tears streaming down her face. “Then how did you mean it? Because I’m so happy to see you but… I don’t know… I don’t know if you are.” Regina said, just above a whisper.

 

Emma took a step forward and cupped the brunette’s face. “You’re really here.” Emma said as if letting Regina out of her sight would somehow made the brunette disappear. Regina leaned into Emma’s touch. God, how much she had missed Emma.

 

Before Regina could formulate a response, she was engulfed in a hug. To be honest, the best hug in her life. She let her head drop on to Emma’s shoulder as she cried. She was finally seeing her best friend, she was finally seeing the woman she loved, she was finally having a second chance.

 

After what felt like eternity, but were really like five minutes, they finally separated. They look into each other’s eyes. If fours years ago they had been brave enough to confess their feelings, they would be kissing right now, but both of them were still afraid of rejection. Sad that they were the only ones that were not seeing the love in their eyes. Even Mary Margaret and David saw it, therefore they had left the room somewhere in the past ten minutes.

 

“I… I thought for a moment that you had forgotten me or something.” Regina said, taking a step back, because she knew that if she stayed a second longer so close to Emma she would have kissed her and probably ruin the best thing in her life.

 

“Regina, I could never forget you.” Emma said, drying her tears. “You’re my best friend, how could I forget you?” The words _best friend_ stinging in her mouth as she said them.

 

Regina tried to suppress the hurt feeling, because she had been delusional to think that Emma might see her as something more than a best friend.

 

The brunette chuckled nervously. “I don’t know.” Regina started to feel awkward and she began playing with the necklace Emma had given her four years ago. Emma looked at where Regina’s hands where and she widened her eyes at what she saw.

 

“You kept it?” Emma said in surprise and amazement. She couldn’t help the grin that appeared that appear on her face. Apparently, Regina did miss her; maybe, just maybe, this love wouldn’t be unrequited love.

 

Regina look down following Emma’s gaze, seeing that she was looking at the crown necklace she chuckled. “Yeah, it somehow made me feel like I was connected to you.” Regina frowned, she didn’t know how Emma would take her comment. “Does that make sense?”

 

“Yeah, it does.” Emma said, before everything went silent.

 

“I mean, I’m certainly glad that you’re here and everything but how?” Emma asked. “I looked for you since the day Cora showed up at my door and I wasn’t able to find you and now you’re here and your mom’s in prison and you still kept the necklace I gave you.” Emma took a deep breath. “And now I’m rambling.”

 

“Yes you are, but don’t worry. I get it.” Regina said. “It’s not that long of a story.” Regina deflated before moving to sit on the couch. Emma followed her.

 

“So, as you know my mother kidnapped me, it was after you left me home that day on my birthday. I guess she put something in my drink because the water tasted weird but I put it off. So after talking to you on the phone” Regina could remember that night as if it was yesterday. “I woke up in a room similar to my bedroom but not the say, it didn’t have a door nor windows. Then, my mother came in and sort of explained why I was there. I wasn’t allowed to have any contact with the outside world, only to do some things for my mother’s company, and that included the Internet. So, one day I was able to hack the password and I tried to send you a message but suddenly the Internet was gone. I would be lying if I hadn’t expected my mother to find out, but she did so and she said something about “teaching you a lesson” and Emma… “ Regina had to stopped talking so she could dry off the tears that had made their way down her cheek. “I’m so sorry for whatever my mother did to you.” Regina said, sniffling slightly and hanging her head down as if she was ashamed of herself.

 

Emma moved to put a comforting arm around the brunette. “Regina, it’s okay. It wasn’t your fault.” Emma tried to reassure her. She remember the day she was beaten up and though she would obviously preferred not to have been hit with a fist of a man three times her weight, she would never allow Regina to blame herself for something she didn’t have control over.

 

“No, no, it’s not okay. If the lesson my mother talked about was something similar to what she did to me, then she hurt you and all because of me.” Regina said as a new wave of tears came strolling down.

 

“No Regina, it wasn’t because of you, it was because your mother was selfish. You were only trying to contact me and if we’re blaming ourselves, then it was also my fault that I was beaten up because Cora knew that I was also trying to find you. In fact, I actually got the IP of your lap, sometimes it was easier to know where you were but it didn’t give the exact location.” Emma replied with a shrug.

 

“You… you tried looking for me?” Regina wondered as if it was the most improbable thing in the world. Someone that cared enough to go and try finding her. Maybe, just maybe…

 

“Yeah, I did. I mean, really Regina I’ve known for at least 10 years and you expected me just to forget you? Seriously Regina, you’re going to have to try harder to get rid of me.” Emma said with a playful smile.

 

Regina laughed, the first _real_ laugh in over four years, to Emma it was a sound that she would like to hear more often and she vowed to herself to make Regina laugh as often as she could.

 

The brunette cleared her throat and continued with her story. “Well, after that I did manage to hack the internet sometime but the connection would last only a minute or two before it shut down. My mother would always find out and well, the punishment for it wasn’t really nice. “ Regina told Emma in a sad tone, as she pointed at her scar on her lip. If Regina didn’t consider herself as someone beautiful, the only thing that the scar managed to do was to drop the already-low self-esteem Regina had to the ground.

 

“So, that’s how you got it.” Emma said, as she felt the anger inside her. She swore that if Cora weren’t in prison, she would surely haunt her down because how she dared to hurt her own daughter in such a way.

 

“Yeah…” Regina said, trying to hide the faint blush that crept on her cheeks because… Had Emma really noticed her?

 

“So, how are you handling with your mom being in prison and all of that?” Emma carefully asked, she didn’t want to pry more than what Regina wanted to tell her.

 

“It’s weird, I mean it’s good on one side because I’m finally able to be who I am but also I don’t know what I’m going to do, because for the last four years I lived in a room with no windows nor doors, completely isolated from the real world, but at least I had a roof over my head.” Regina sighed, she really hadn’t though it through how to get back on track.

 

“Hey, I know Mary Margaret and David won’t have a problem so maybe you could stay here while I’m here and then you can come with me back to NYC to my apartment and stay with me until you can find your own and get settled down and everything.” Emma suggested.

 

“No, no Emma. I wouldn’t want to impose.” Regina said.

 

“It’s no problem, you can sleep in my old bed and I can sleep here on the couch.” Emma said gesturing towards the couch they were currently sitting in.

 

“I…” Regina was started to say something against it but Emma gave her a pointed look and she knew there was no room for more arguments. “Thank you Emma. I…” _I love you_ Regina wanted to more than anything. “I really appreciate it.” And suddenly forgetting that she and Emma were nothing more than best friends, she moved forward to kiss the blonde.

 

Emma gasped loudly when she felt Regina’s lips and that finally made Regina remember where she was. The brunette pulled away.

 

“Regina…?” Emma said when she could finally see the brunette. Replaying in her mind what she had done, Regina blanched at the thought that just because of a stupid impulse she may have lost the only friend she had ever had and possibly ruined her chance to truly be with the blonde.

 

Emma’s mind was on a complete different train of thoughts. _Did Regina just kissed me?_ Emma asked herself while she put two fingers on her lips, she still could feel how soft and tender lips had felt against her own. It was… truly magical. _Regina really might like me._

 

But her face didn’t showed all the butterflies she was feeling, instead Regina saw only pure panic and horror and before Emma could react, Regina got up from the couch. “I… I’m sorry Emma, so sorry.” Regina said as new tears began to trail down. _You ruin everything_ she heard her mother’s voice. With that she stormed out of the loft.

 

“Regina! Wait!” Emma yelled but Regina had either not heard them or she was ignoring them. _No, I can’t loose her again._ Emma thought.

 

Emma started running to catch up the brunette, not even bothering in getting her coat for Maine’s winter. The only though in her mind _Regina might love me back_ and with the determination of finding the brunette and kissing her again, she had waited damn long for that moment and she would not let this opportunity of being happy to pass.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the wait. Here you go, and I hope you'll enjoy the chapter.
> 
> All mistakes are mine.
> 
> Disclaimer in chapter 1

Between being shocked about what had just happened, not only the fact that Regina ran away for dear life, but also because of the kiss between them not so long ago, the brunette had completely disappeared. She made a mental note to call Elsa later, to check in with the blonde but also to tell her everything… If she could find Regina.  
  
Think Swan, think. Where would Regina go? Emma thought to herself as she looked around the street for any sign of the brunette. Finding none, she just began to make a list of all the possible places Regina might have gone. Granny’s was quickly crossed out, as well as the bar and the house that had been once Regina’s home followed promptly.  
  
She was beginning to be out of choices until she remembered the place where she and Regina had come to known as their safe place. The docks.  
  
Emma quickly got in her bug and drove off the docks. Soon enough, she spotted the car she had seen outside her parents’ loft but didn’t question it in the moment. She parks the car and gets out of it, and started walking to where she can see Regina seated.   
  
Emma can’t help but smile that Regina is seated in their bench. Though there are a few not-so-nice stories of the times they were younger and told the other one about their past, that bench had become their safe place; a place they know they can tell each other anything without the fear of being judged by it.  
  
The brunette has her gaze locked in the horizon, while she is no longer crying, you could still see the paths that the tears had chosen to follow as well as the red puffy eyes. Emma didn’t know if Regina knew she was there, so she cautiously seated down next to Regina.  
  
Apparently, Regina had been so lost in thought that she gasped when she turned around and found Emma beside her.  
  
“Wha- Why are you here?” Regina asked.  
  
Emma frowns. “Why wouldn’t I be?”  
  
“Because of what I did earlier.” Regina sighs, and looks down to the ground; she can still hear her mother’s voice insider her head telling her how she ruins everything. “Emma I’m so sorry for what I did earlier, and I would understand completely if you don’t want us to be friends anymore, it’s okay.” Regina is fighting back the tears because it’s definitely not okay. “But if there’s a chance that you don’t feel repulsed by any of this, I would still like being friends.” Even if I can’t be with you as the person you love Regina thinks for herself.  
  
“And what makes you think that I want to be only friends with you?” Emma asks and Regina is preparing herself for the rejection she is sure is coming.  
  
“What would happen if I said I wanted to kiss you again?” Emma asks, suddenly extremely shy because she doesn’t know how Regina will take it.  
  
“What?” Regina looks up to see the blonde’s green eyes full of hope. Had she heard correctly? Did Emma like her back?  
  
The blonde takes a deep breath to muster up the courage for the confession that is about to follow. “Regina Mills, I have had a crush on you since the first time I saw you, you’re the best thing that had happened to me in my life and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you anything earlier because I was afraid of being rejected… I am afraid of being rejected. And if there’s a chance that you feel the same, I would really like to see where this goes.” Emma finally said.  
  
Regina looks at her in complete shock.  
  
The brunette has her mouth hanging wide open, and after the initial wave of shock passes she is opening and closing her mouth trying to formulate a coherent phrase but no sound comes out of it. Finally, she just shuts her mouth and starts to feel new tears forming up; but these tears are no longer of fear of rejection but tears of joy that she is actually having a chance for a new beginning.  
  
Meanwhile, Emma is just going crazy seeing that Regina is completely speechless and she doesn’t know if that’s a good or bad thing; she starts fidgeting waiting for Regina to open up but seeing that Regina is no closer to speak she tries to encourage her a little.  
  
“Mmm Regina, I really need for you to say something because I’m dying inside.” Emma says nervously.  
  
Regina at last gets out of the trance she was in. “You have a crush on me?” Regina asks still in disbelief; she can’t believe what she’s hearing.  
  
“Well, I would say this is no longer just a crush because Regina I’m…” Emma takes another deep breath; this is what she had been waiting to say to the brunette since the day Cora kidnapped Regina. “I’m starting to fall in love with you.”   
  
Regina gasps loudly. “You-you are?”  
  
“Yeah.” And Emma starts scratching the back of her neck, feeling so awkward. She waits just a moment before Regina speaks up again.  
  
“Me too.” Regina finally says.  
  
Emma looks up to find hazel eyes looking right through her with all the love she had been missing for the first years of her life.   
  
“Would it be all right if I kiss you right now?” Emma shyly asks.  
  
Regina gives an almost imperceptible nod; she doesn’t want to close her eyes in fear that when she opens them up, there will be no one in front of her or maybe that the kiss that Emma is about to give her is just a dream.  
  
Regina leans forward and Emma does the same, then everything is as if the rest of the world has completely disappeared.  
  
The kiss was gentle, sweet and tentative, each woman wanted to know the other slowly. The started out slowly, discovering each other, getting lost in the feeling of being loved, of being wanted.  
  
They broke apart, both with grins over their faces. Emma can’t help but to giggle, a sound that to Regina was the best thing she ever heard.  
  
“What?” Regina asks curiously.  
  
“Nothing, I just wanted to do that since I met you” Emma replies, still with a smile on her face.  
  
But then, the smile disappears and a frown takes its place. Regina notices this and starts wondering what is going through the blonde’s mind.  
  
“Emma, what’s wrong?”  
  
“I’m sorry.” Emma whispers and Regina isn’t sure she said anything. “I’m so sorry Regina.” Emma said as a tear run down her cheek.  
  
“Why are you saying sorry?” Regina asks worriedly.  
  
“Because if I had been brave enough to tell how I felt since the beginning then maybe all this mess wouldn’t have happened. I’m sorry for taking so long in finding you and it the end it even wasn’t me, you found me. Don’t get me wrong Regina, I’m more than glad that you found me but I wish I had found you a lot earlier.” Emma says, looking at the ground.  
  
“You have nothing to be sorry for.” Regina says moving her thumb to clean up the tears that are now running freely from Emma’s eyes. “We are now both here and that’s all that matters.”  
  
Emma looks up to hazel eyes and leans forward for a chaste kiss. Regina happily kisses her back.  
“Want to go home?” Emma asks. She gets up and offers her hand to Regina.  
  
It didn’t go unnoticed to Regina that the blonde has used the word “home”, and while Regina was clearly surprised, she finally had a home. She had a home with Emma.  
  
“Yeah. Let’s go.” Regina says taking Emma’s hand.   
  
They walk back to Emma’s parents’ loft, forgetting that they had both left their cars near the docks. They walk hand in hand, interlacing their fingers and just allowing themselves to feel everything. All the happiness they had just found, all the love they had just been brave enough to admit, just everything.  
  
When they got to the loft, Mary Margaret and David where sitting in the living room. Both of them just looked at both with knowing faces. Suddenly, Regina felt a twinge of fear; both of them had been so engrossed on everything that had happened with Cora, that the brunette didn’t have time to consider that Emma’s parents would might not like her daughter be with Regina or that she liked girls and Regina was now wondering what would Emma do if it came down to a decision.  
  
“Hey guys.” Emma said to them with a little wave, still not letting go of Regina’s hand. “Is it okay if Regina stays with us while I’m here?” Emma asks already knowing the answer. Both her parents knew that she had a crush with Regina, and later they saw that she loved her when how determined she was to finding Regina.  
  
“Sure. Hey, so do you want to help me finish dinner?” Mary Margaret asked Emma, as if nothing major had been asked. She just needed to see the glim in her daughter’s eyes to know that she finally was the person she loved. Before she went to the kitchen, she casted a glance towards David that said don’t you dare to get all overprotective mood.  
  
“Yeah.” Emma replied. She turned to Regina. “Make yourself comfortable.” Emma said as she gave Regina a quick peck on her mouth. Regina gasped at how Emma didn’t care that they were in front of her parents. “I’ll catch up with you in a moment, I just have to make a quick call.” Emma said towards Mary Margaret ho just gave a nod.  
  
Emma went upstairs towards her old bedroom, quickly reaching for her phone and barely containing her excitement. She and Regina were really together. She dialed Elsa’s number and didn’t have to wait long till the other blonde answered.  
  
“Oh thank god Emma! I was beginning to worry that you hadn’t called.” Elsa said before Emma could say anything. Emma just chuckled.  
  
“Hi Emma, how was your trip? How are things going on in Storybrooke?” Emma said in her best personification of the blonde at the other side of the line. “Oh you know same as always…” replied.  
  
Elsa laughed. “Sorry, you know me. So how is everything?” Elsa asked, feeling that Emma was about to tell her something important.   
  
“Goog, good… very good.” Emma said, not knowing how to tell her best friend that she had found Regina, well Regina had found her but whatever.  
  
“So…” Elsa said impatiently.  
  
“I…I saw someone.” Emma said, still not unsure how to tell her. “I saw Regina.” Emma finally added.  
  
The other end was completely silent, and Emma was afraid that the line had cut off.  
  
“Mmmm Elsa? Are you there?” Emma asked worriedly.  
  
Emma was about to ask her again until she heard a loud squeal that she had to remove the phone from her ear. “You saw Regina? Did you talk to her? Did she see you? Why is she in Storybrooke?” Elsa rapidly fired these questions.  
  
“Okay, Elsa I need you to calm down if you want me to tell you everything. But that’ll have to wait because I’m supposed to help with dinner.” Emma interrupted her friend.  
  
“Oh Swan, don’t leave me like that. But okay, you need to be with your girl. Just promise that you’ll call me.” Elsa said, sounding offended but Emma knew she was just joking.  
  
Emma chuckled. “Yeah, I promise. Talk to you later.” Emma replied before ending the call.  
  
While Emma had been in her bedroom, Regina was left alone with David; she knew that David would kill to protect Emma, if the things came down to that. Regina sit on the couch and David then sit on the chair in front of her.  
  
“Umm Regina, I want to tell you something.” David starts. Regina waits for David to continue; she doesn’t know what to expect and all the possible worst scenarios are playing inside her mind: that David will tell her how she is not enough for her daughter, that David will ask her to leave and never come back (though she admits she exaggerated a little bit with this one) or that David will start with a Holy Inquisition worthy interrogation.  
  
“I know that you love Emma and if the glint in her eyes are any clue, she loves you too. I’m glad Emma had found someone to share all life experiences with and that you have found in my daughter someone that makes you feel safe. The only I ask you, is not to hurt her, she has had enough suffering for more than a life time.” Davis tells her in a tone that varies between trying to be the over protective dad as well as fear of what might happen if Emma gets hurt.  
  
Regina expected everything but this, but she is not going to complain. “I promise you, that I will do everything in my power not to hurt Emma.” Regina promises him, an she gives him a small smile which he returns.  
  
In that moment, Emma came down the stairs before stopping to take into the picture in front of her and couldn’t help the grin that came to her face. She finally had everything; parents who loved her and a hot girl that she loved.  
  
Regina watched as the smile spread through Emma’s face and approached. She gave her a quick kiss followed by a hug, one that Emma was more than happy to reciprocate.  
  
“I’ll always love you.” Both of them said at the same time, being extremely happy that they’re finally able to say the words that had become their personal mantras to the person they had been whispered to.   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that the end of the chapter sounds as if the story was really over, but fear not there's still a lot more for these two ladies. Thank you for reading :)


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm sorry for the wait, here's the new chapter, I hope you like it.
> 
> All mistakes are mine
> 
> Disclaimer in chapter 1

After dinner, both Emma and Regina had discarded the idea of sleeping separated from each and though it was a silent agreement, both of them were quite excited for that type of intimacy. 

They had agreed to take their relationship slowly, because even though they had met over ten years ago, these four years that they hadn’t seen each other had taken their toll on them. Each one had changed, for better or for worse, they’ve had different experiences and they were simply different persons.

Emma sent a quick text to Elsa promising her that she would call her tomorrow before going up to her bedroom where Regina was already unpacking some things; she had already changes to her pajamas and Emma could swear she had never looked so beautiful.

Not that Regina, in Emma’s opinion, never looked beautiful but in her nightgown, without makeup and her face as relaxed as possible and lighted with the faint glow from the lamp at the other side of the room, Regina looked stunning.

“You’re beautiful.” Emma said as she leaned on the doorframe. It was barely above a whisper but loud enough that Regina heard it as she turned around to face the blonde.

Regina blushed, as she moved a lock behind her ear. “Thank you.”

Emma moved from the frame and gave Regina a chaste kiss. Then Emma went to the bathroom so she could changer herself. When she got out of it, Regina was already laying in the bed with her back facing Emma; she walked towards the bed, turned off the light, pulled the covers over both of their bodies, as Emma spooned Regina.

Regina, meanwhile stiffened a little not knowing what to do with that show of affection; she hoped that Emma hadn’t noticed as she began to relaxed as she realised that it was the first time she felt safe and loved in more years that would be normal.

“What’s wrong?” Emma asked, as she felt Regina stiffen. Had she done something wrong?

“Nothing, I’m fine.” Regina replied.

“Regina, don’t you remember that I’m a walking lie-detector?” Emma asked, half being serious, half joking.

Regina let out a deep sigh, then she rolled over so she could face Emma. She looked at those deep green eyes and got lost in memory as she began to remember that Emma had looked at her that way ever since the first day they talked. 

“I’m not dreaming am I?” Regina asked with uncertainty filling her voice.

“In that case, I don’t want to wake up any time soon.” Emma said.

“It’s just that, every day that my mother kept me in that room, all that I could think about when I went to sleep was how it would feel to be in your arms.”

“Well, lucky for both of us you’ll never have to imagine that ever again.” Emma said, trying to convey all the love she felt for the brunette.

Regina gave a small smile, then she turned again so she could allow Emma to wrap her arms around her.

“Goodnight Regina, I love you.” 

“I love you too.” They both said, as they both drifted off to sleep.

Emma was standing in the alley. The same alley in which Cora shot her, but this time she wasn’t the person that was at the end of the line of fire.

“I’m sorry that I have to turn to… desperate measure, if you had listened all those years ago that what I’m doing is for your own good we wouldn’t have come to this.” Emma heard Cora say. But to whom is she talking?

“I’m sorry mother but the way I see it, love is strength not weakness.” Regina replied and in that moment Emma knew what was going on.

“Regina no!” Emma yelled and tried to run towards Regina but her feet were like glued to the ground, because they refused to move.

In that moment, Regina looked at her with tears in her eyes. She gave her a half-smile before saying “I love you Emma, please remember that.” Regina said before Emma heard the characteristic sound of a gun firing away.

“Regina no!” Emma yelled once again before seeing how Regina’s body fell to the ground.

Emma then woke up, sweat drenching down her shirt. It had been the same dream over and over again for the last few weeks; of course, there were days in which she didn’t have a nightmare but it had been a long time ago that she had been able to go through a night with a peaceful sleep.

Fortunately, some time during the night, Regina and Emma had disentangled themselves, so she hadn’t woken up Regina. She rubbed her hand with her face trying to erase the still vivid images of how Regina was shot; she got up and looked at the clock in her phone. 5:30 a.m. She made her way to the kitchen knowing that she wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep.

Better make some coffee she thought as she started preparing the coffee. The only thing is that she hopes she would be able to make it without waking up anyone.

Her back was facing the stairs, so she didn’t see when Regina made her way down still half asleep.

“What are you doing down here?” Regina asked.

Emma jumped, nearly throwing away the cup she had in her hand. “Jesus! Regina, you scared the shit out of me. Never do that to me again.” Emma calmly said once her heart rate returned to normal, as she turned around to face Regina.

“I’m sorry, but you still haven’t answer my question.”

“I…umm… I couldn’t sleep so I got up to make some coffee.” Emma said, praying that Regina would leave it like that and didn’t ask her why she couldn’t sleep. Elsa was the only one that knew about her nightmares, because there was one time that she had actually woke up screaming. Elsa had soothed her but didn’t ask what they were about though she imagined Elsa had already figures them out.

“I can see that but I don’t understand what was keeping you from sleeping.” Regina replied, completely determined to get the truth from Emma. Something was bothering her, she just hoped it had nothing to do with her.

“It’s nothing really. You can go back to bed and I’ll go up un just a minute… After i finish my coffee.” Emma answered.

Maybe Regina was overthinking and overanalysing everything, but she remembered the series and movies she had seen when she was younger and how when one person in a relationship applies the excuse “It’s nothings” something is clearly wrong and it usually had to do with the other person. Not that she knew what there was to expect from a serious relationship since she hadn’t had one.

Maybe Emma was having second thoughts about their relationship, maybe she had just realised that Regina wasn’t the person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. She frowned at the thought.

Emma saw as the Regina that was confident and determined to get her talk, suddenly grew into the Regina that was vulnerable and insecure. She furrowed her brow because she didn’t know what had gotten into Regina’s mind to make her shift her mood in the lapse of mere seconds.  
“Did I do something?” Regina shyly asked.

Emma’s eyes widened, she didn’t know from where the question was coming. “What?” Emma asked in shock.

“It’s just that… Was it something I said or something I did?” Regina asked Emma as she ducked her head; honestly, she was dreading the answer, she had just found Emma and if the blonde was having second thoughts, she didn’t know what she was going to do.

Emma moved away from the kitchen to hug Regina as if her life depended on that. Regina hugged her back with the same force.

They stepped away, and Emma cupped Regina’s face having an idea the kind of thoughts that were going through her mind; living 12 years in the foster system would do that to you.

“Regina, if you’re thinking that I’m having second thoughts or that I will run away you’re completely and utterly wrong. I love you, and I didn’t spend the last four years trying to find just to lose again. It seems that you’re stuck with me.” Emma said, trying to lighten the mood.

The brunette in spite of herself gave a small chuckle. “I love you too, but will you tell me then what was keeping you awake?” Regina said, all her worries and insecurities forgotten momentarily.

Emma sighed, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to keep her nightmares a secret much longer, much so if she wanted her relationship with Regina to be a long-term one.

“I’ve been having nightmares. Not always.” Emma tried to reassure her, she didn’t want Regina to carry a burden she didn’t need to. “But when I do, I can’t go back to sleep.” Emma told Regina, as she was trying to erase the still-present images of her nightmare.

“Since when have you been having them?” Regina asked; she knew what the answer would be, but she was grabbing the las bit of hope that it wasn’t the answer. Because otherwise, it would mean that it was because of her that Emma was having trouble sleeping.

“Umm. I… since I was shot. They didn’t really start until I was discharged, I guess it was because the drugs they gave me must have made me sleep but yeah…” Emma said sheepishly.

“Do you want to talk about them?” Regina asked her.

Emma’s heart swelled seeing how much Regina cared about her. “Not yet, maybe one day.” Emma said while giving her a half-smile. “You look like you could use some rest, I might not be able to go back to sleep but we can cuddle up if you like.”

“Yeah, that sound good.” Regina said, then she turned to walk towards the stairs. She had to blink away the tears, because she couldn’t do anything to help soothe Emma’s nightmares and she was partly the cause of them.

When they were finally lying in the bed, Emma’s wrapped around Regina and Regina’s head on the blonde’s shoulder, with one arm going around her.

“I’m sorry Emma.” Regina whispered.

Emma frowned in confusion. “What? Why are you sorry?” Emma asked.

“Because if it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have been shot and you wouldn’t be having nightmares and it’s just… I’m so sorry.” Regina rambled and she sniffed, trying to hold back the tears.

Emma got into a sitting position ¡, forcing Regina to come up with her. “Regina, we’ve been through this. This wasn’t your fault, your mother was selfish and all she wanted was to have complete control of your life. And if being shot means that I would see again a beautiful, intelligent, kind and amazing woman, then I would go through that all over again.”

Regina’s heart swelled with all the warmth she felt from being safe and loved and this time she couldn’t stop the tears. 

Emma wiped the tear with her thumb and gave Regina a loving kiss; this kiss, Emma hoped, conveyed all the emotions she felt for the brunette. Caught in the moment, Regina started deepening the kiss, she swiped her tongue through Emma’s lower lips and the blonde moved her tongue so it clashed against Regina’s. Both women had to suppress their moans, they didn’t want to wake up Emma’s parents as there wasn’t that much separation between Emma’s room and their parents’ downstairs.

They realised what was happening and they both knew that they weren’t quite ready for the next step, but they knew this felt right. Not only the kiss, but being able to trust in one another, to share secrets, just being with the other.

Reluctantly, they pulled away and got back to their sleeping position. Regina fell fast asleep in just a few minutes and when Emma heard the slow but constant breathing she allowed herself to relax.

Surprisingly enough, this night was the first night she could go back to sleep after her nightmares, they didn’t return that night. She felt safe and went to sleep with a smile on her face: she was where she was supposed to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me what you think :)


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry guys this took so long. I promise the next update won't take as long as this one. I hope you'll like it.
> 
> All mistakes are mine.
> 
> Disclaimer in chapter 1.
> 
> On with the show.

They were both truly happy. They never imagined they could ever be happy as they were now, not after what happened when they were 16 and all the years Emma spent looking for Regina.

 

They were going to stay in Storybrooke only after New Year’s, since Emma had to go back to class for her last semester at college. Christmas went smoothly with presents and a dinner, almost as if they were already a family.

 

It was New Year’s Eve, and Regina and Emma could not have been happier. Every year they spent missing each other, the only wish they ever had was to some day find the other, have another chance at love, but something had allowed them to get that chance and they would seize that chance.

 

The Major of Storybrooke had organized a fair to celebrate the New Year, and they were now strolling through it along with Mary Margaret and David. Emma then slowly started t get closer to Regina, it didn’t go unnoticed to the woman in question but she was going to give Emma the benefit of the doubt. She then saw through the corner of her eye how Emma started to move her hand closer to Regina’s, and how it finally grabbed and Regina let them to be clasped together.

 

It surprised her how natural this felt, how both of their hands seemed to fit, as if they were one. Regina looked down, and couldn’t help the smile that showed across her face; she looked up to find emerald eyes looking right through chocolate ones with nothing more than love and admiration.

 

How had she gotten so lucky to have Emma by her side? She leaned forward and Emma met her halfway in a chaste but loving kiss.

 

Finally, the countdown had begun and they were currently in front of the giant screen that was in the Major’s office.

 

Everyone started yelling the countdown as the number began to appear on the screen.

 

10…

 

9…

 

8…

 

7…

 

6…

 

5…

 

4…

 

3…

 

2…

 

1…

 

“Happy New Year!” Everyone exclaimed, and in that moment the fireworks fired away illuminating Maine’s dark sky.

 

Emma moved behind Regina so she could hug her, resting her hands in front of Regina’s torso and her head on Regina’s shoulder.

 

The brunette moved her hands so they were resting on top of Emma’s as tilted her head so she allowed Emma to rest her head a little more comfortable.

 

“Happy New Year Regina.” Emma whispered.

 

“Happy New Year to you too.” Regina answered and she moved her head so she could meet Emma in a kiss. Reluctantly, both women pulled away as they continued to watch the fireworks.

 

Yes, this was the happiest they had ever been.

 

 

Later that week, they returned to New York. And as always, David pleaded with Emma to call home once in a while, otherwise Mary Margaret would put a Missing Person announcement.

 

Emma just chuckled this time, while Regina promised them to keep an eye on her.

 

They were in Regina’s Benz driving to New York while Emma’s bug stayed in Storybrooke because there was no way Regina would get onto that death trap. The blonde groaned but didn’t do anything to argue; both of them knew one way or another, they would end up in the Benz.

 

“So, umm, just a heads up. I have this roommate, who is my best friend there are two courses of action when we arrive there. One, she will fire away all these questions about your intentions with me and so on or… she will just look at you and decide in that same moment.” Emma shyly said, she didn’t want Elsa to scare Regina away, thought she knew that there was little she could do if Elsa decided to go all Holy Inquisition.

 

Regina just hummed in acknowledgement, she gripped the wheel a little too hard and her knuckled were turning white. Emma noticed this even when Regina tried to relax.

 

“What’s wrong?” Emma asked.

 

“She’s your best friend and it’s really nice that someone is there to have your back but what if… what if she doesn’t like me?”

 

“What you mean she won’t like you?” I’ve told her about you.” Emma said with a frown on her face.

 

“Yeah, I assumed you have but she liked the idea of me, not the actual me. What are you going to do if she doesn’t like me?” Regina asked, blinking rapidly to keep the tears away She knew she couldn’t deal with the idea of Emma leaving her and even less if Emma decided to leave.

 

Realization dawned upon Emma; old habits die hard, even more if you had a mother like Cora to remember your own insecurities every single day.

“Then I’ll ask her to leave.” Emma confidently said.

 

“Wh-what?” Regina said as she turned briefly to face Emma to see if there was any trace of a lie. But she couldn’t find one.

 

“Yeah, I’ll ask her to leave.” Emma assured her.

 

“But why? She is your best friend.”

 

“I know, and I won’t deny that it will hurt like a bitch if she doesn’t like you and I’ll have to see how she leaves but I know that you will be there when that happens. So, the way I see it, it won’t matter if she doesn’t like because you are far more important and I will always choose the woman I love.” Emma replied with a reassuring and loving smile. “I just got you back and I’m not ready to see you leave or until you decide you don’t want me anymore.” The blonde added.

 

Regina faced her again, with tears in her eyes but with a grin on her face. No one had ever bothered to fight for Emma or to even choose her, so it was quite an unknown feeling, but one that spread warmth through her heart and that was truly appreciated.

 

“Thank you. I love you.”

 

“I love you too Regina.”

 

They continued their way towards New York listening to Emma’s playlist while Regina rolled her eyes because how does a person has Broadway musical soundtracks, P!nk, Pierce the Veil and some unknown artists all in one playlist? But still, it was something that made Emma be Emma so Regina wouldn’t change it a bit. They talked about anything at all and when Emma told Regina that she should rest a little bit and let the blonde drive, the brunette just gave Emma a look that said that it was out of the question.

 

When they arrived at Emma’s little apartment that she bought with some of the money she got as a bail bondsperson, the blonde truly hoped that Elsa would be out somewhere so they could get settle in. But, as usual, she had no such luck.

 

Almost immediately after Emma opened the door, she was quickly engulfed in a hug that could have easily taken her breath away, But not in the romantic and poetic way, much like in the quite literal sense of the word. She even had to grab the doorframe to steady herself.

 

“Emma!” Elsa said while crushing Emma.

 

“Elsa, I missed you too but you’re crushing me.” Emma said while trying to step out of the hug.

 

Regina just chuckled at the sight, forgetting for a moment that this meeting should actually be putting her nervous.

 

Elsa finally let Emma breath and finally noticed the presence of someone else.

 

“And you must be Regina.” Elsa said as she took back a few steps as if she was trying to get a better look of her.

 

“Elsa, Regina. Regina, Elsa.” Emma introduced them both.

“A pleasure to meet you Elsa.” Regina replied, trying not to show her nervousness to someone she had just met.

 

Elsa just looked at her and an awkward silence took over the entrance of the flat.

 

 _Seriously? We haven’t even come into my house and there is already a staring contest going on._ Emma thought for herself, as she shifted from one foot to the other one.

 

“So, umm, now that everyone is acquainted with each other can we step in?” Emma awkwardly asked.

 

Elsa gave almost an imperceptible nod and Emma wasn’t sure if it was in answer to her question or if it had been directed towards Regina.

 

“Well, I must say that I hope that your manners will wear off on Emma. Ouch!” Elsa rubbed her arm after Emma had smacked it. “What? It’s true.”

 

Regina let out a sigh of relief and gave a small smile. “Trust me, I had been trying to teach her manners for the few years we were together in school.” Regina said teasingly and she lifted her shoulders. “There’s nothing I could do.”

 

“Regina, you’re not helping.” Emma replied.

 

Both, Elsa and Regina erupted in a fit of laughter and Emma rolled her eyes. “You two are impossible.”

 

“Oh but you love us.” Elsa said with a teasing grin.

 

Emma looked at both of them. Her best friend and her girlfriend and she gave a half-smile.

 

“Yeah, I do.” Emma said as sincerely as she could, then she went back to the door to take the few bags they had come with, while Regina tried to keep her blush down.

 

“So, how were your vacations with Emma?” Elsa asked Regina; the blonde had decided that she really was the person Emma had talked about, and seeing both of them truly happy having found each other, was enough proof of that.

 

“Good, it felt good to be back.” Regina replied while she unconsciously looked towards where Emma had just disappeared into her bedroom. Elsa looked in the same direction and smiled. Yep, they were happy.

 

“I’m glad. But now that you are here and I’m living with Emma as her roommate do try to keep the screaming and moaning at a reasonable level.” Elsa teased, and she stepped into the apartment to make way for Regina to come in, as she was still standing in the entrance.

 

Regina felt the blushing creeping into her face at the mention of having sex with Emma, and warmth spread through the pit of her stomach.

 

Truth to be told, she couldn’t wait for her first time with Emma, and she just hoped that she would be good. She had never had had sex, blame her mother for that, so as much as she was excited about that prospect she was also quite a bit nervous.

 

She was pulled out of her thought by Emma returning to the entrance to see Regina standing still.

 

“You okay?” Emma asked with concern written all over her face. “Elsa didn’t threaten you to a questioning session later, did she?”

 

Regina laughed, and Emma swore that she would make Regina laugh as often as she could. “No Emma. She was really nice.” The brunette replied while finally stepping into the apartment.

 

“Good. I figured that we could get settle in and maybe, we could go grab some dinner after that.” Emma offered.

 

“Are you asking me on a date?” Regina asked.

 

“Nope.” Emma said while Regina’s face fell but before she could let any type of insecurity in Emma added “Because a date with you is worth a better planning than just a last-minute dinner.” Emma said with a smile.

 

Regina smiled back. “Yeah, I would love that.”

 


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *peeks from behind the couch* Hey guys, remember when I promised I wouldn't take this long to update? Yeah, that didn't happen and I'm terribly sorry. I had some sort of writer's block but I'm here now with the intention of updating more often. Really guys, I'm so sorry.
> 
> So, this is more of a filler chapter but I still hope you'll like it. Italics are a memory, just so you know.
> 
> All mistakes are mine.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own anything, otherwise SQ would already be canon.
> 
> On with the show

Life had been good for the past few months. Emma returned to school for her last semester at university while still working as a bounty hunter under Mulan's command, Elsa was doing god knows what while still trying to get a girlfriend.

However, Emma and Regina had their own insecurities and they never knew when one of them would resurface and put them on the sloppy rope.

" _Emma tell me your secret." Elsa demanded Emma._

_Emma just looked at her as if she had grown two head. "What secret?" Emma asked as she returned to preparing dinner. Regina had moved in with them for two months now and everything in their relationship was going smoothly; sure they hadn't had sex but Emma didn't want to pressure Regina into something she wasn't ready for yet. Regina was right now doing some shopping for some things that were missing at their little apartment._

" _How did you manage to get a girl as Regina?" Elsa asked as she put her elbows on the counter top and her hands on her cheeks looking at Emma with a narrowing gaze._

_Emma chuckled, yep she was lucky to have a woman as Regina by her side. "Wouldn't you want to know?" Emma asked back._

_Elsa groaned in desperation. "Seriously Emma, she is everything you could ask for. She has a hot damn body, she is intelligent and…" Elsa said and Emma gave a light chuckle at the mention of Regina's body "she has a hot damn body." Elsa added and Emma just laughed._

" _Yeah, I know." Emma answered, but she was lost in thought because Regina was amazing, she hadn't even got to fully comprehend how Regina wanted to be with her._

_Elsa rolled her eyes at seeing Emma lost in thought. They were way too cheesy for her taste but she was still happy that they had found each other. God knows they both needed that._

" _Oh Jesus Christ, you're too mushy for your own good." Elsa said and Emma rolled her eyes. Maybe they were, but maybe that's what they needed right now. "Besides, aren't you supposed to finish that essay you are always talking about instead of making out with Regina?" Elsa inquired._

_Emma gave her a pointed glare. "Don't remind me, the worst of all is that it is due like in three days and Regina is doing nothing but distracting me." Of course, Emma just meant it half-heartedly, because she really liked making out with the brunette though it was true that she needed to write that essay, but Regina chose that moment to come in._

" _I'm sorry." Regina whispered and two heads turned around just to see that there were already tears forming in Regina's eyes. The brunette left the groceries on the table in the living room and scurried away to the bedroom she and Emma shared._

_Emma couldn't move and just after she heard the door of their bedroom closing was when she was able to react. "Shit." Emma muttered to herself and Elsa said something between having to go out because something came up and giving them a little space._

_As Elsa made her way out of the apartment, Emma made her way towards their bedroom, opening the door just to find a suitcase on top of the bed and Regina trying to wipe away her tears and moving all her belongings to the suitcase._

" _Regina…" Emma whispered as her own eyes started to fill with tears. She didn't want to lose Regina over some stupidity she had said; she was determined not to los her again but she couldn't keep her tears away._ You're the most stupid person ever in the whole fucking world, Swan. _Emma thought for herself._

" _I'm so sorry Emma. I didn't know I was such a burden but I really should have seen it coming. I really just should go, I don't want to be a distraction for you anymore, you deserve something better than me. I thought things were going well but perhaps this was just too good to be true. I completely understand Emma, so don't worry and I know-" Regina started saying without glancing at Emma when she felt a pair of strong hands holding her arms and making her stop whatever she was doing._

" _Regina, stop packing your things." Emma interrupted her. "You are not a distraction, you are not a burden, I'm not keeping you here just out of pity. I love you Regina Mills and I'm so damn sure I will not let you go after all these years._

" _But you said-" Regina started between sobs._

" _I know what I said and I'm truly sorry about it. I love making out with you and I wouldn't change it for anything." Emma explained and with her thumb she wiped one tear out of many that were falling out of Regina's eyes. "Yeah, it's true that I have to write that freaking essay but making out with you always seems like a better option." Emma teased, trying to alleviate the ambient._

_Regina chuckled, despite of everything. "Are you sure you are not just saying this to make me feel better?" Regina asked._

_Emma tilted her head as if she was considering the correct answer. "In a way, yes. But not because I don't believe in those words but because the last thing I want is for you to be sad. I love you." Emma finished and moved to give Regina a well deserve hug as she gave her a kiss on her forehead._

" _I love you too." Regina answered back and though Emma knew she had said those words, she still gave a light chuckle as they were muffled by her shoulder, were Regina's head was._

" _And I couldn't ask for a better girlfriend than you." Emma whispered in her ear and she could feel Regina's smile against her shoulder._

" _Neither do I." Regina said before adding in all seriousness. "But not more making out sessions until you finish that freaking essay, as you say, that you've been delaying for three weeks now."_

_Emma groaned. "Regina…" She protested. "That's so no fair. Besides, I only have to write two thousand words more and ta da." Emma pleaded and begged that this might work. Truth to be told, she still had to write the entire essay but maybe she could get away with this one._

" _Uh uh, you still have to write the entire essay. It's due in three days isn't it? So, no making out for three days. Surely you can live through it?" Regina said with a teasing smile. Each time, the teasingness led to more than just first base but they were still waiting for the other._

_Emma groaned one last time before she went to grab her laptop and started writing. There was no way that she would go three days without making out with her girlfriend._

Yeah, things were going pretty good and in celebration of Emma finishing her last exam in her life, Regina had a special evening planned.

"Finally." Emma exclaimed and fist bump into into the air as she returned to their apartment after her last exam. Regina laughed at the sight.

"Someone would say you don't like your two majors." Regina sassed as Emma plopped ungracefully onto the sofa.

"No no, I love my majors but the exams… Yeah, no thank you." Emma replied.

"So, umm Emma how do you feel about going on a date tonight?" Regina asked nervously. They had been dating for the last six months and she still felt like a high school girl talking to her crush.

Emma gave her a soft smile. "With you? I would love to go on a date with you." Emma answered. "Even thought we have been to a dozen dates." Emma gave a small chuckle.

"Yeah I know, but you're normally the one that plans it so this time I felt it like planning it."

"Sure, so where are we going?" Emma asked curiously.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out. You don't have to dress fancy or whatever. We'll have to leave at 7." Regina explained to Emma.

"Sound good to me." Emma said and gave Regina quick peck. "I'm going to shower and then we'll be ready to go."

Regina watched as Emma disappeared into their bathroom. She couldn't deny the pressure that she felt now at her core just from imagining Emma naked. She hoped that, if Emma really liked the date, tonight would be the day they would make love to each other. Regina didn't want it to be only sex, and neither did Emma so here was to nothing.

Regina walked into their bedroom to change from her yoga pants she only used in her lazy days (thought the three inhabitants of the apartment knew that Regina loved being in her yoga pants, even if it wasn't a lazy day) into an outfit more proper to going out into the city, though living in New York City offered them that everyone could dress as they liked and no one would give a damn, everyone too focused on their own activities for the day.

She didn't expect to see Emma only with a towel covering her body while looking for her clothes. Regina blushed a deep shade of red, because she really wanted tonight be the night.

Emma looked over her shoulder to see a very flustered Regina that gave her the confidence to be a little bolder than usual. Sending her a teasing grin she said "See something you like?"

Regina just continued to drag her eyes all over Emma's exposed skin. It was clear to anyone that had eyes that Emma was a very attractive woman but Regina had the advantage of watching those toned arms and legs. She had to thank Emma's job for that one.

"I… umm… I'm just gonna go change." Regina rapidly said at a loss of any other coherent sentence, trying to spare some of the dignity she had left after being caught staring at the blonde's body.

After Regina disappeared, it was Emma's turn to blush. She had caught Regina staring at her body and could almost swear that she saw Regina's chocolate yes darken just a little bit. Emma hoped that tonight would be the night, and bit her lip in anticipation of what this evening could possibly bring.

After ten minutes or so of Regina being in the bathroom, mostly trying to calm herself down she finally exited and walked to their bed where Emma was playing with her phone.

"Ready to go?" Regina asked.

"Yep." Emma replied and she turned her phone off. When they went on a date they just silently agreed to pay only attention to each other. God knew that had lost a lot of time with Regina's kidnapping and they weren't willing to waste any more time.

They clapped their hands together and shared one last kiss before exiting their apartment. Both of them hoping this would be the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, next chapter the date and some sexy times. The rating is finally going to change. Tell me what you think and as always, thank you so much for reading, all the kudos and comments are appreciated. Still open to prompts so there you go :)


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Peeks from behind the couch* I'm so terribly sorry for the long wait for the update. I hope the next chapter will be up sometime next week if my exams allow me to. Agains, I apologize but I hope how it turned out this chapter.
> 
> Disclaimer in chapter 1.
> 
> All mistakes are mine.
> 
> On with the show.

Regina really hopes that Emma likes the date she has planned. The didn't live too far from the Theatre district and the weather was not too hot and not too cold, so perfect for walking around a little bit. There was new Broadway show that had recently opened and Regina though it was a perfect opportunity to take Emma on a date to see it.

She had seen the movie before and when she found out they were doing a musical about it, well she couldn't have asked for more. She also had covered the diner part of the date. The apartment in which they lived had a little rooftop that with a little effort and a lot of cleaning, was actually perfect to have a romantic diner so Regina had reserved the rooftop just for them.

Emma and Regina kept walking in comfortable silence, with their hands clasped together and their fingers laced together and Emma couldn't keep her smile from that. She didn't know how lucky she was or to which star she had to thank you for having the opportunity to be with Regina.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Regina asked and Emma chuckled, because damn the other woman knew her. In fact, both of them knew each other pretty well. Each one of them knew when the other just needed a little space off or when they needed a hug or a laugh or anything really.

"I was just thinking of how lucky I am that I am the one to be with you. You're pretty amazing you know?" Emma said while turning her head from the path so she could look straight into hazel eyes.

Regina softly smiled at the compliment. "I should be the one for feeling like the luckiest girl in the world. You're also pretty amazing, Emma Swan." Regina answered.

"I love you Regina." Emma said with pure adoration and love in her voice.

"I love you and I always will." Regina said back and they shared a quick peck on their lips before turning their glances back to the road. It was after all New York City and they had to be rather careful in order not to bump into anyone.

"So, do I get a hint of where we are going?" Emma hopefully asked.

"Nop, but we are close to the first part of our date." Regina answered just as they rounded up the 46th Street and walked a little bit until they were in front of the Lunt-Fontaine Theater.

 _Finding Neverland_ was one of Regina's favorite movies and now, well, she had the opportunity to watch the musical with her girlfriend. The movie had always given her hope of finding her happy ending, of believing that there was a little bit of magic in the world. There were times when her mother had held her captive in which she would think about this move and allowed herself to hope, to believe, that one day she would find Emma. Emma stopped dead in her tracks when realization came over.

"A musical?" Emma asked in disbelief and shock, but it was a good shock. Ever since moving to New York she had wanted to come to Broadway to watch any musical, but between looking for Regina, her job, getting shot and school, lets just say that she never had a chance.

However, Regina thought that the disbelief in Emma's face was a way of asking the brunette if they were actually going on a date to see a musical. Regina bowed her head in shame. She should have thought of another thing to do on their date.

"I'm sorry if it isn't what you expected. We can go somewhere else or just go for some food and return to the flat." Regina muttered quietly. She wanted this date to be a memorable one but she never could do anything without screwing it up. And to think the date hadn't officially started and she had already fucked up.

"No! I mean, yes! God." Emma took a deep breath before she started rambling without making any sense. "I was in shock because I've never had the opportunity to go to a Broadway show. I know right? Living almost four years here and never actually been to Broadway." Emma chuckled awkwardly. "It's a good surprise." Emma said and looked at Regina who still had a hesitant small on her face. "I swear it is." Emma said and gave Regina quick kiss on the forehead.

"Why _Finding Neverland_ though? I would have pegged you something more like _Hamilton_ or _The Phantom of the Opera_." Emma asked, while they continued to walk to the entrance of the theater as Regina got the tickets out of her purse.

"There is movie of it actually, it came out in 2004 and well, it's been one of my favorite movies ever since I can remember. And I love the way they talk about hope and believing in things that supposedly are impossible; like when I was with my mother, thinking about the movie was a way for me to believe that one day I would find you." Regina explained. "I know, it's silly."

"Not at all, nothing that ever feel or think is silly." Emma reassured her. "And hey, it seems that you did found me." Emma said with a smirk on her face.

Regina laughed. "Yeah, I suppose I did."

The finally got in and found their seats; Emma was impressed that their seats were actually quite good, centered and not too close but not too far from the stage. They were actually perfect. Finally, the third call was made and the show started.

Throughout the first half of the musical, Emma stole glances from where Regina was sitting and saw how entranced was the brunette by the show but what moved Emma the most were the lyrics of the song, each one of them talking in their own way of believing in the impossible.

It wasn't until after the intermission, during the second act that Emma was starting to think if this would actually end in a happy ending. During the whole scene where the actors perform and the Llewelyn Davies' house, where J.M. Barrie and Peter narrated the whole story, the blonde was as if she was there on stage; she clapped with all her might when the fourth wall was broken and Emma was so intrigued by the whole thing that her brain caught up a little too late that Sylvia had died and that Neverland was just a way of saying Heaven.

When the lights turned on, she had to quickly wipe her tears so Regina and everyone else in the theater wouldn't watch her cry.

"S-so Peter Pan was just there to guide Sylvia to Neverland? And Neverland is actually Heaven?" Emma mumbled to Regina, her eyes still on the stage.

"Well, if you want to look at it that way yes it is. I remember the way I cried when I first saw the movie. Of course, I was still pretty young so I didn't understand the whole things but yes." Regina explained while comforting Emma the best she could from where they were sitting.

Regina bit her lip. "Did-did you like it?" Regina asked nervously. She loved the movie and now the musical, she just hoped that Emma had enjoyed the show despite the not-so happy ending.

"I loved it. Can we buy the soundtrack?" Emma said just as excited as Regina was. The brunette gave a short laugh before responding. "Of course we can." The bought the soundtrack and walked out of the theater. Again, they linked hands and for both of them, it felt like they were where they were supposed to be.

"So, what do you want for dinner?" Emma asked. "I can prepare something for us at the flat or we can go eat somewhere." Emma said.

"Actually, remember how I said that there was a first part of this date?" Regina replied. "The second part is dinner, and while we have to go back to the apartment we won't be eating like, in our home." Regina explained.

Emma narrowed her eyes playfully. "What do you have plan Mills?"

Regina smiled. "Something that I hope you really like." Regina got out her phone just to send a quick text to Elsa asking her if she could carry the plates and everything up to the rooftop. Elsa since knowing Regina's plan of a date was more than happy to help in whatever she could. They continued walking in a rather comfortable silence until they reached the apartment.

When Emma realized that they weren't stopping at their floor, she frowned and wondered where they were going. "You know that our flat is like two floors downstairs right?"

Regina rolled her eyes. "I know, but we are not going to our flat." Regina replied just as she opened the door that led to the rooftop. Everything had been cleaned out and decorated.

A series of lights hung up from little wires that went across the terrace; Regina had rearranged the flowers that were scattered randomly so they were now encircling the little table that was standing in the middle. The table was a simple one with a white tablecloth on it, the plates were the best they had and there were two pots with something Emma just assumed was delicious because surely Regina had cooked them. There was a candle in the middle of the table and it gave just the romantic tough Regina wanted. A pair of glasses and a bottle of wine were also part of what their night would consist. The night was clear and it gave the place a glow that you only see in this type of things in the movies.

"Wow." Emma whispered when she took in everything. Regina had really gone big for their date. "This is amazing." Emma murmured still in her trance of admiring everything Regina had done for them.

Regina let out a breath of relief she hadn't known she was keeping. "I'm glad you like it." Regina took Emma's hand and led her to the table and, although normally Emma held the title of being the "gentlewoman" in the relationship, the brunette didn't hesitate in pulling the chair out for Emma to sit.

"Always a charmer." Emma chuckled. Regina only winked with a smirk on her face and now the blonde was definitely turned on because that, was the sexiest thing she had ever seen. Regina walked around the table and sat on her chair.

Regina uncorked the bottle of wine and served it in the two glasses. "I know this isn't supposed to be that sort of a big thing but I just wanted to tell you that I'm the luckiest girl on earth." Regina said with a timid smile. "There was a time where only in my dreams I would ever get to date you but here we are. I love you Emma Swan, and I always will." Regina finished and looked at Emma with pure adoration in her hazel eyes.

Emma flashed a smile that Regina was glad it was reserved for her. "I love you too Regina Mills and I always will." Emma replied and stood up from her chair so she could lean and give Regina a kiss which the brunette happily responded to.

Dinner was nice, talking about everything and anything and just enjoying the presence of the other. They discussed the show which Emma absolutely loved despite the heartbreaking end and Regina promised they would watch the movie together. When they got up form the table, both of them were anxious to see where this night would end.

Walking to the door together with their hands linked, Emma stopped them from a moment and Regina frowned at the sudden stop. "Why are we stopping?" Regina asked.

Emma softly smiled at her. "I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for the wonderful date." Emma leaned to kiss the brunette, Regina parted her lips ready for Emma's and just as they were so close to the door, Emma was able to push Regina against it.

Regina let out a moan of pleasure, seeing that the kiss was becoming more heated and there was actually a pressure in her core that she couldn't ignore. Emma's tongue swiped across Regina's lips asking for permission which was rapidly granted, their tongues meeting halfway and neither of them knew from which of them the moaning was coming from. Probably, from both of them.

"Want to take this to our bedroom?" Emma whispered between kisses.

"Yes, please." Regina murmured, her hand looking blindly for the handle on the handle on the door. Once it was opened, she reluctantly stepped away so they could get as fast as they could to their bedroom. Nerves and excitement of where this was leading were coursing through both of the women's bodies. Both of them thinking that this would be the night that they had been waiting for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and any kudos and/or comments are greatly appreciated. :)


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